The rise in accidental poisoning in children by prescription drugs are being talked about it multiple news stations and in medical journals. Why they think this is happening is because of the rise in the use of prescription drugs among adults. Despite childproof caps and the safety warnings, the number of poisonings have went up 22% from 2001 to 2008. There is a rise in both adult and children prescription drug use, which leads to having more pill bottle in a household than normal. They are saying that the majority of cases are from the parents’ failure to keep the medications out of reach of children and securely put away. The Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the University of Cincinnati analyzed national poison control data and found that 544,133 children ages 5 and younger had been to the emergency room between 2001 and 2008 after an accidental medication poisoning. In 95% of the cases, it happened because of a child ingesting the drug, instead of a labeling or dosing error. It is possible that now there are more medications that are more likely to be kept in a household, such as diabetic medication, since obesity is a major concern in our country which can lead to all sorts of medical issues. Also changes in drug technology can also be contributing to the increase. For example, heart patients that used to take diuretics for blood pressure are now being prescribed beta blockers which can lead to more toxic overdoses.
The change in the way that the prescriptions are packaged can help in reducing the number to accidental overdosing. For example, liquid medicine can be made to restrict flow to only one dosing, and pill bottles will only allow only one pill to be dispensed at a time. Little changes like locking up prescription pills instead of just placing them in hard to reach places can also greatly reduce the number of accidental overdoses.
Join Together Staff. "Growing Number of Children Accidentally Poisoned by Prescription Drugs | The Partnership at Drugfree.org." The Partnership at Drugfree.org | Support and Resources for Parents Dealing with Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse. The Partnership, 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Oct.2011. <http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/growing-number-of-children-accidentally-poisoned-by-prescription-drugs>.
Jones, Rebecca. "Accidental Poisoning in Children Is on the Rise." KwikMed. Wordpress, 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://kwikblog.kwikmed.com/2011/09/16/accidental-poisoning-in- children-is-on-the-rise/>.
Parker-pope, Tara. "More Accidental Drug Poisonings of Children - NYTimes.com." Health and Wellness -Well Blog - NYTimes.com. New York Times, 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/more-accidental-drug-poisonings-of-children/>.
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