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Medications account for most childhood poisonings
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General Services Administration
The most dangerous item in your bathroom is your bottle of Tylenol. And your Dimetapp. And all your other prescription and OTC medications.
Data on poisonings among children published in the online edition of American Journal of Preventive Medicine show that more than two thirds of young children taken to the hospital for a poisoning had eaten or drunk medications while no one was watching.
The study authors from CDC's Medication Safety Program noted that children most often needed medical attention after ingesting acetaminophen, narcotic painkillers, the antianxiety medications known as benzodiazepines, cough and cold medicines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antidepressants. Most medication poisonings occurred in children younger the 5 years of age.
These data are borne out in the 2005 annual report from the Virginia Poison Center. The center, which is based at Virginia Commonwealth University and serves all of southeast Virginia, received reports of 21,791 poisonings by ingestion during the last year for which complete figures are available. Of those cases, analagesics topped the list of poisons, accounting for 3,180 cases. Cough and cold medications stood fourth on the list of most common poisons for Virginians in the southside.
The lead author of the AJPM article, Daniel Budnitz, noted in accompanying press release that "unsupervised medication ingestions caused over 80 percent of the ED (emergency department) visits. These ED visits for unsupervised ingestions are 10 times more common than overdoses from medication errors by a parent or caregiver." All medication-caused poisoning reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System outnumbered any other kinds of poisonings by more than two to one.
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