The FDA is warning about a link between a popular cough medicine and a dramatic increase in child poisonings. An FDA study found a 158-percent increase in child poisonings over an eight-year period involving the prescription drug Tessalon. Tessalon capsules look like candy, which the FDA believes is adding to a rise in accidental poisonings, mainly among 10 to 16-year-olds. The FDA is putting out the warning as the respiratory virus season is here… when kids' coughs and sniffles turn into colds and the flu. Overuse of the “pearl” gel capsule can lead to serious health problems in children, including convulsions, cardiac arrest and death.