CBC MARKETPLACE: YOUR HEALTH » COLD/FLU MEDICATIONS
Out in the cold: Over-the-counter remedies can cause problems for seniors
Broadcast: January 30, 2005

What if the flu-fighting tablets you take to get better actually make you worse? Trouble can start when older people, like Nick Ciolfitto, take these products. They can suffer serious, even life-threatening problems.

It's cough and flu season. Many of us turn to over-the-counter drugs to get better. Anyone can take pick them up at their local drug store; there's no prescription required.

But what if the flu-fighting tablets you take to get better actually make you worse?

That may be the case for many Canadians, and you likely haven't been warned.

Nick Ciolfitto felt terrible - he was coming down with a cold.

He was achy and tired – and wanted to fight off the bug before it got serious.

So Nick went to the drug store and bought a common over-the-counter cold medication. He had no idea the pills he was about to swallow would pack a powerful punch.

Nick was up all night, in terrible pain: "I felt like I was going to die... I've never had a pain like this before."

“I had the urge to go to the bathroom,” he says. “I tried every 15 minutes and nothing happened.”

But something was happening: Nick’s bladder was shutting down. A few hours later, he ended up in the emergency ward at the hospital.

The thought that his over-the-counter cold medication was behind Nick’s problems never crossed his mind.

“I would think it would be safe to purchase because it is on the shelf,” he says. “You don’t need a prescription.”

Nick didn’t take a special prescription to fight off his cold – it was a regular bottle of cold medication that you can buy off-the-shelf at any drug store.

You’ll find similar products – for cold, cough, or flu – in Canadians’ homes across the country.

But trouble can start when older people, like Nick, take these products. They can suffer serious, even life-threatening problems.