Around the Nation

FDA Resists Call to Ban Cold Remedies for Kids

A top government health official Thursday rejected pediatricians' call for an immediate ban on over-the-counter cough and cold medication for young children, saying it might cause unintended harm.

But Food and Drug Administration officials at a public hearing also said they are uncomfortable with the lack of solid scientific data to support continued use of OTC remedies in youngsters, particularly those ages 2 to 6.

A ban -- as sought by leading pediatricians' groups -- might prompt parents to give adult medications to their youngsters, said John Jenkins, who heads the FDA's Office of New Drugs.

With a new cold season coming, pediatricians are urging the government to demand a recall of over-the-counter cough and cold remedies for children younger than 6. The effectiveness of the drugs in children was never proven, critics say, and problems with the drugs send thousands of kids to the emergency room every year.

First Lady Visits North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. -- First lady Laura Bush was welcomed to North Dakota by children wearing red, white and blue sailor hats and a sign that said: "Your 50th state, the best for last." She visited the Sims Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church, believed to be the oldest Lutheran church west of the Missouri River, and stopped at Bismarck's Riverside Elementary School to promote a program that brings artwork into schools.

Texas Island Covered in Debris

PADRE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE, Tex. -- Tons of debris swept up by Hurricane Ike last month have been carried by Gulf of Mexico currents hundreds of miles from the upper Texas coast to this ordinarily pristine landscape. Cleaning up the national seashore is a federal responsibility, but local governments were relieved to be included in the disaster declaration, allowing them to seek cleanup reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Blackface Skit Brings Apology

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The mayor of a Kansas town appeared in blackface as part of a drag-queen beauty contest but apologized after meeting with NAACP officials. Arkansas City Mayor Mel Kuhn won the weekend fundraiser, in which he appeared in dark makeup and used a vulgar reference to female genitalia as his character name. The fundraiser was for Court Appointed Special Advocates, which supports foster children. Kuhn's apology came after a meeting Wednesday night with the Wichita branch of the NAACP.

N.Y. Police Officer Kills Himself

NEW YORK -- A New York City police lieutenant committed suicide eight days after ordering the use of a stun gun against a Brooklyn psychiatric patient who then fell to his death, police said. Lt. Michael Pigott of Sayville, N.Y., fatally shot himself at Floyd Bennett Field. He had been on desk duty since the incident in which police responded to an emergency call saying that a man, Iman Morales, 35, was behaving erratically in his Brooklyn apartment.

-- From News Services