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Cough and cold medicines send about 7,000 children to hospital emergency rooms each year, the U.S. government said Monday in its first national estimate of the problem.

About two-thirds of the cases were children who took the medicines unsupervised. However, about one-quarter involved cases in which parents gave the proper dosage and an allergic reaction or some other problem developed, the study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The study included both over-the-counter and prescription medicines. It comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned parents that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines are too dangerous for children younger than 2.

The study’s findings about the proportion of properly dosed kids who end up in the ER is likely to contribute to FDA discussions about recommendations of cough and cold medicines in the 2-to-6 age group, CDC officials said.

CDC researchers gathered case reports of children 11 and under who had taken cough and cold medications and wound up in 63 hospitals studied in 2004 and 2005. They used that number to come up with the national estimate.

About 1,600 of the estimated 7,100 children are under 2, so the FDA’s guidance if followed should reduce such ER cases by 23 percent.

Nearly two-thirds of the cases involved kids ages 2 to 5, the CDC found.

“The main message is no medication left in the hands of a 3-year-old is safe,” said the CDC’s Dr. Melissa Schaefer.

Many of the ER case reports were not specific about symptoms, and the researchers did not follow cases through to conclusion. So they did not know if or how many deaths resulted, said Schaefer, an epidemiologist who was the study’s lead author.

For the children whose symptoms were reported, allergic reactions like hives and itching were most common, and neurological symptoms like drowsiness and unsteady walking were next, she said.

Most of the medicines involved were liquid combinations of cough and cold treatments, CDC researchers said.

Of the children who reportedly got the right dose of medication, about a third were younger than 2, but more than half were ages 6 to 11, the study found.

Some children suffer side effects from medications, so those results aren’t necessarily unexpected, Schaefer said. The FDA will have to balance data like this against the medicines’ benefits and other factors, she added.

“What we gave them was a piece of the puzzle,” she said.

Parents should not encourage children to take medicine by telling them it’s candy, and parents should also avoid taking adult medications in front of kids, CDC officials said.

The study tells a story of the misuse of medications, said Linda Suydam, president of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group that represents manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter medicines.

“These medicines are safe when used as directed, and this government review underscores the importance of educating consumers especially those with small children on the safe use and safekeeping of medicine,” Suydam said, in a prepared statement.

The study was published online Monday. It will appear in the April issue of Pediatrics, a journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A Kanawha County woman has filed a suit against the manufacturers of a recalled product that was used during her hernia operation.

Frances Landers of Sissonville with her husband Kenneth D. Landers, filed the suit Dec. 21 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Davol Inc. and Thomas Memorial Hospital.

Landers claims she has suffered more than $250,000 in medical expenses due to the complications from a Kugel Mesh that was used during her hernia operation.

According to the suit, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled Kugel Mesh, manufactured by Davol, Inc., on Dec. 22, 2005, due to disastrous life and health threatening results.

Landers had an operation May 5, 2005, at Thomas Memorial Hospital. She claims she suffered a severe infection from the use of the Kugel Mesh, which required several operations and other related injuries. She claims she has incurred $250,000 in medical, hospital and doctor bills.

Kenneth Landers claims he suffered a loss of consortium from his wife, and has become obligated for the payment of her medical bills.

The Landers seek compensatory damages for their losses.

A Minnesota man filed an asbestos suit against 10 defendant corporations in Madison County Circuit Court Jan. 16, alleging his father died from mesothelioma.

Bruno Zagar claims his father, Anthony, was diagnosed with mesothelioma on Jan. 1, 2004, and died on Dec. 2, 2004.

He claims that during the course of his father’s employment and during home and automotive repairs he was exposed to and inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed asbestos fibers emanating from certain products he was working with and around.

“The plaintiff’s exposure and inhalation, ingestion or absorption of the asbestos fibers was completely foreseeable and could or should have been anticipated by the defendants,” the complaint states.

According to Zagar, his father was employed from 1942 to 1982 as a sales representative in various locations including Illinois.

Zagar claims the defendants knew or should have known that the asbestos fibers contained in their products had a toxic, poisonous and highly deleterious effect upon the health of people.

He also alleges that the defendants included asbestos in their products even when adequate substitutes were available and failed to provide any or adequate instructions concerning the safe methods of working with and around asbestos.

Zagar also claims that the defendants failed to require and advise employees of hygiene practices designed to reduce or prevent carrying asbestos fibers home.

As a result of the alleged negligence, Zagar claims his father was exposed to fibers containing asbestos and developed a disease caused only by asbestos which has disabled and disfigured him prior to his death, the complaint states.

Zagar claims prior to his death, his father suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, was hindered and prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment, thereby losing large sums of money.