Galveston County Daily News, Dec. 18, 2007 Re-educating parents about cough-cold medications for children will take time, writes UTMB's Howard Brody in his Medicine and Health column. A survey done in December showed that parents still think that over-the-counter medications are safe and helpful despite findings by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Academy of Pediatrics that they are not effective in children younger than 6.