Medications

About one-third of parents report they had received at least one pain medicine prescription for their children in the last five years. 35% of parents are very concerned about misuse of narcotic pain medicines by children and teens in their communities; only 19% are concerned about misuse in their families.

Overall, 79% of parents and 85% of grandparents of young kids report having prescription medicine at home. Grandparents are 4 times more likely than parents to keep prescription medicine in easy-access places. About two-thirds of adults overall would support potential new laws that would require medicines to be packaged as single-dose servings. 

6 in 10 parents of children 2 and under gave their children over-the-counter cough and cold medicine within the last 12 months. About half of parents who use OTC cough and cold medicine report that their young children’s health care providers say these types of medicines are safe and are effective.

83% of parents believe the last medicine prescribed for their child was FDA-approved, although less than 30% of medicines are FDA-approved for use in children. 77% of parents would like their child’s doctor to prescribe only medicines that are approved by the FDA for use in children. 

25% of all adults have used discount generic prescription drug programs; more than two-thirds of these adults have private insurance or Medicare. 18% of parents have used discount generic drug programs for their children; over one-half of these children have private insurance.