Home Medications Cause Most Accidental Poisonings

< Aug. 05, 2009 > -- Medications found in the family medicine cabinet are the leading cause of accidental poisonings in US children, according to a new report.

Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than two-thirds of emergency department visits are due to poisoning from prescription and over-the-counter medications - that is more than double the rate of childhood poisonings caused by household cleaning products, plants, and other common sources of accidental poisonings.

The report appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Each year in the United States, more than 71,000 children aged 18 and younger are seen in emergency rooms for unintentional overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, the researchers found.

"Medication overdoses are most common among 2-year-olds," adds lead researcher Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the CDC's Medication Safety Program in the division of health-care quality promotion. "About one out of every 180 2-year-olds visits an emergency department for a medication overdose each year."

Home Meds Unsecured from Kids

Dr. Robert Geller, a professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and medical director of the Georgia Poison Center, says that "the number children seen in the emergency room due to overdoses that are unintentional or medication errors is remarkable."

Dr. Geller notes that many more people reach out to poison control centers for help than show up at the hospital. "Right now, poison centers are having their funding cut," he says. "If poison centers are less available, the number of children going to emergency rooms will rise."

Dr. Budnitz notes that more than 80 percent of these overdoses are due to unsupervised ingestion. "Basically, it's young children finding and eating medicine without adult supervision," he says. "They are found with an empty bottle or pills in their mouth or something, and they are taken to the emergency department."

In addition, medication errors by caregivers or adults and misuse of drugs by preteens and teens cause about 14 percent of accidental poisonings, Dr. Budnitz says. "Basically, that's not following directions," he says.

Study Details Revealed

2004 and 2005 data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was used to estimate the number of emergency department visits resulting from unintentional medication overdoses for children aged 18 and younger.

The most common medications accidentally taken by children are acetaminophen, opioids (pain medications) or benzodiazepines (sedatives), cough and cold medicines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and antidepressants, Dr. Budnitz says.

To help reduce the number of incidents of unintentional poisonings, especially in younger children, Dr. Budnitz believes drug manufacturers must create better child safety caps, including caps that limit the dose that can be dispensed.

The CDC is currently working with over-the-counter drug manufacturers to encourage the implementation of new "passive" safety caps, Dr. Budnitz says. These caps do not require that the user do anything but close it to work, or they allow only a measured dose to be dispensed at one time.

Dr. Geller says there is a need to improve packaging to cut the number of cases of unintended ingestion. "If you could make it harder for a kid who came upon a package to get the contents of the package, it would make it more likely they would never need to go to the emergency room," he notes.

Of course, there are things that can be done right now by parents and caregivers, Dr. Budnitz says. These include making sure the cap is tightly secured after taking medication and placing the bottle well out of the reach of toddlers.

Always consult your physician for more information.

Facts About Childhood Accidental Injuries

Injuries are a major source of childhood emergency department and hospital admissions. The most recent accident statistics from the National Safety Council, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and other sources tell us that:

• Injury is the leading cause of death in children and young adults. According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 2,800 children, ages one to 14 years, that died from an unintentional injury.
• Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children.  Children ages 14 and under account for one-third of all fall-related visits to hospital emergency rooms.
• In 2003, nearly 285,600 children ages 14 and under were treated in the US for bicycle-related injuries. Nearly half (47 percent) of children ages 14 and under hospitalized for bicycle-related injuries are diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
• Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages one to 14. The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites.  However, children can drown in as little as one inch of water.
• Airway obstruction injury is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among infants under age one.
• Approximately 45 percent of unintentional injury deaths occurred in and around the home. Unintentional home injury deaths to children are caused primarily by fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, firearms, falls, choking and poisoning.

Children's work is their play. Play includes many fun types of activities that also put them at risk for injury, such as running, climbing, swimming, biking, and sports. Minor accidents and injuries are part of childhood and growing up.

For parents and caregivers, knowing what to do when minor injuries occur is an important part of caring for a child.

To help avoid many common childhood injuries, parents and caregivers should consider learning how to care for injuries; tell the difference between a minor problem and a true emergency and respond accordingly; learn what to keep in a first-aid kit; and complete a checklist and phone contact list for when emergencies occur.

Always consult your physician for more information.