Grandma, the Family Dog: Unexpected Sources of Opioid Tragedies for Young Kids

Follow Drugslib on

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Sept. 27, 2024 -- Grandma's pill organizer. Fido's pain medication. A tossed-away tissue.

All are potential sources of opioid poisoning for young children, researchers at the New Jersey Poison Control Center report.

Their five-year look at 230 cases of opioid exposure in children between 1 month and 6 years of age shows how easily they get their hands on dangerous drugs.

"I've seen too many kids in my practice at University Hospital who have gotten severely poisoned because they got opioids in their house," said senior study author Dr. Diane Calello, medical director at the Rutgers University-based poison center.

Almost all of the exposures -- 97% -- were accidental. In all, 91% took place in the child's home and more than 84% of those kids wound up in a hospital.

Many times, kids found a parent's meds. But 17.4% of cases involved grandparents' medications, underscoring a risk factor some might overlook. Older adults may not be as careful as Mom and Dad about securing their meds.

Pet medications were involved in 4.3% of cases -- sometimes directly and sometimes from injesting meds that had been mixed with food like peanut butter and left out for the pet.

Eight in 10 cases involved kids age 2 and under.

The data came from reports to New Jersey Poison Control made between January 2018 and December 2022.

Prescription opioid pills were the No. 1 source of danger -- but not the only one. Kids got access to used fentanyl patches, illicit drug paraphernalia and even traces of opioids left on discarded tissues and cotton balls.

"One opioid pill could actually kill a 2-year-old," Calello said in a Rutgers news release. "And yet, a parent who may take that opioid pill every day may not realize that even though it's very familiar to them, it is deadly."

Researchers called for broader education about the dangers of opioids in the home and said that should include anyone who might have meds in a home where kids are present.

Calello said one potential solution is increasing access for parents and caregivers to naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.

"I've seen several cases of young children where I thought that if this mom or dad had naloxone with them, they could have given it, and this child may have had a better outcome," she said.

She said she hopes to study the effects of distributing naloxone to parents more widely.

The findings appear in the December issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

Sources

  • Rutgers University, news release, Sept. 25, 2024

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Posted : 2024-09-28 00:00

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords