Below is the press release. For a list of recalled products, click here and scroll down.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare Announces Voluntary Recall of Certain OTC Infants’ and Children’s Products

Fort Washington, PA (April 30, 2010) – McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is voluntarily recalling all lots that have not yet expired of certain over-the-counter (OTC) Children’s and Infants’ liquid products manufactured in the United States and distributed in the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Dubai (UAE), Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, and Kuwait.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare is initiating this voluntary recall because some of these products may not meet required quality standards. This recall is not being undertaken on the basis of adverse medical events. However, as a precautionary measure, parents and caregivers should not administer these products to their children. Some of the products included in the recall may contain a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified; others may contain inactive ingredients that may not meet internal testing requirements; and others may contain tiny particles. While the potential for serious medical events is remote, the company advises consumers who have purchased these recalled products to discontinue use.

The company is conducting a comprehensive quality assessment across its manufacturing operations and has identified corrective actions that will be implemented before new manufacturing is initiated at the plant where the recalled products were made.

Consumers can contact the company at 1-888-222-6036 and also at www.mcneilproductrecall.com. Parents and caregivers who are not sure about alternative pediatric health treatment options should talk to their doctor or pharmacist and are reminded to never give drug products to infants and children that are not intended for those age groups as this could result in serious harm.

For additional information, including affected NDC numbers, consumers should visit our website www.mcneilproductrecall.com or call 1-888-222-6036 (Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Time, and Saturday-Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time). Any adverse reactions may also be reported to the FDA’s MedWatch Program by fax at 1-800-FDA-0178, by mail at MedWatch, FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20852-9787, or on the MedWatch website at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. markets a broad range of well-known OTC products.

I’m happy to introduce Kid Row’s second guest blogger: Stephanie Harris, a local chiropractor and mother of young children. Please enjoy Stephanie’s post and contact me via the contact link (upper right-hand corner) if you would be interested in doing a guest blog yourself.

Health and Your Childʼs Symptoms

It can be distressing as a parent to watch your child endure the uncomfortable symptoms of a cold or flu. We donʼt want to see our children suffer unnecessarily. But have you ever considered that the expression of symptoms can be good for your childʼs health?

For example, an elevated body temperature helps the immune system to kill a pathogen. The watery eyes and runny nose that accompany a cold are a way for the childʼs body to flush out that pathogen. When we get sick, the immune systemʼs job is to once again get the body well. And a childʼs body does this by manifesting symptoms.

But hereʼs the tricky thing about all those pesky symptoms: they appear long after the balance of health has been altered. In fact, symptoms are the last thing to show up in the course of a disease or illness. By the time that nose is running and you are chasing your toddler around the house with a tissue, her immune system is already fighting off the offending bug in full force. And, believe it or not, that fever and the head congestion are just what she needs to effectively and efficiently rid her body of the invader, once and for all.

There are natural ways you can support your childʼs healing process during such bouts of symptom expression. Health-restoring treatments such as chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, and herbal supplements can help strengthen the childʼs immune response from the inside-out. Health comes from within. A childʼs body is perfectly designed to regulate itself and to deal with slight imbalances in itʼs homeostasis.

Over-the-counter pharmaceuticals do not actually heal the body; instead they suppress symptoms. Giving your child symptom-suppressing medications can actually stifle the natural course of the healing process. They may indeed alleviate the childʼs discomfort.

Understandably, this makes you, the parent, feel better because your child is not suffering. But in the long run it makes your childʼs body have to work harder to overcome the illness because the natural course of the recovery has been interrupted or stifled. Symptom-suppressing medications operate from the outside-in, whereas the body was designed to heal itself from the inside-out. By the time the symptoms show up, the child is already well on her way to recovery. Getting through the symptom part of the illness can be messy, to say the least, but your childʼs body will be stronger because of it. Those pesky symptoms are a means to an end, and a childʼs body knows just how to heal itself.

Stephanie Harris, D.C., has a family wellness practice in downtown Durango. She can be reached at drstephdc@gmail.com.

Below is an interesting article on vitamin D from the New York Times’ Well blog. This is another one of the medical quandaries that so bedevil parents: not enough may be bad, too much may be bad and they don’t know how much is good. It’s easy to get yourself twisted up about these matters, but a friend of mine gave me great advice shortly after I first become a mother: listen to the experts but when it comes to making a decision, trust your instincts. You know your child better than anyone.

 The Miracle of Vitamin D: Sound Science, or Hype?

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Imagine a treatment that could build bones, strengthen the immune system and lower the risks of illnesses like diabetes, heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure and cancer.

Some research suggests that such a wonder treatment already exists. It’s vitamin D, a nutrient that the body makes from sunlight and that is also found in fish and fortified milk.

Yet despite the health potential of vitamin D, as many as half of all adults and children are said to have less than optimum levels and as many as 10 percent of children are highly deficient, according to a 2008 report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Read more.

San Juan Basin Health Department is offering a vaccination clinic open to everyone from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday at the north entrance of the Durango Mall. The shots are free. H1N1 vaccinations are also available at City Market and Walgreens for anyone 10 years old and older. At these locations, there is an administrative fee and the charge varies among stores. For more information call the FluLine, 247-5702 ext. 1520 or visit the health department’s Web site at www.sjbhd.org.