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Study Finds Children Overmedicated on Purpose
Filed under: In The News
It sounds like an episode from CSI. In fact, if I recall correctly, it was an episode of CSI. A child meets an untimely end due to being overmedicated with cough syrup. Why? The parents wanted her to calm down or be quiet or some such thing. It sounds like it's impossible, but it happens, and, according to doctors, more often than we'd like to believe. Kids are being overmedicated in order to calm them down. They overdose and are then rushed to the emergency room. Some meet a tragic end. Of the 189 minor deaths reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine due to overmedication, an alarming number were thought to be intentional. Seventy-nine children were administered non-prescription medication; of those, 26 were determined to have been given on purpose.
According to one expert, Dr. Richard Dart, of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, there is a specific type of parent who does such a thing. Generally, they tend to be of lower-income and there tends to be a history of child abuse or violence in the home. It was also noted, however, that accidents do occur, and that daycare providers have been known to give the medicine in order to calm down their charges as well. It was also noted that in 19 cases the adult was trying to help the child and didn't mean to cause an overdose.
This is the kind of thing that terrifies me to no end. I certainly would never, under any circumstances, give my children medicine in order to get them to be quiet or behave, and I am terrified to give them medicine in the first place for fear of overdosing. Heck, I try not to take anything for myself if I can at all help it--I'm not a big fan of medicating at all, really. BUT, and it is a big "but," it's easy to see how someone who is actually trying to help a child could accidentally administer an overdose without realizing it. The medicine doesn't seem to be working so the parent gives more, and more, until they end up in the ER. It's really very scary. Bans on over-the-counter meds being given to kids under 12 are being considered by the FDA.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
12-22-2008 @ 11:42AM
Rob O. said...I'm definitely in the "less medicine is better" camp. We use honey instead of cough syrup, for example.
My wife & I had read about parents giving their little ones Benadryl to conk 'em out during long airplane flights, and we did bring along some Benadryl just in case the long trip from Moscow freaked our new son out too much. But in the end, we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. And thankfully, he was not too stressed by the travel although he did get very restless from time to time during the 12 hour flight.
Reply
12-22-2008 @ 11:59AM
Jamie said...I do see the problem with those parents who overmedicate their children as a serious one. I, however, do not agree with taking the medications off of the market for under age 12. It is not as though they would be available by prescription. The FDA wants to take ALL cold and flu medications away for children under 12. I am VERY careful on how and when I medication my children. I have a 4 year old and I have given him cold medicine in the past and have continued to do so, as needed. This might be 3 to 4 times a year when things have been rough for him for a couple of nights before I resort to medicine to help him sleep through the night. I do not wish harm on any child, but I do not want to see the medicines go away. They are useful for my 4 year old and they have never harmed him in any way. I hope the FDA can reconsider pulling the medications and force the drug companies to use better warning labels and the doctors to education the parents on the importance of following the dosage amount given by the medications.
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12-22-2008 @ 9:25PM
David Robinson said...It is not just that these over-the-counter medicines are dangerous but that they are not very effective too. Tylenol given in correct dosage would be more effective.
David Robinson
12-23-2008 @ 7:59AM
Jamie said...David, I see your point. That may be very true for your family. As for mine, my son does respond well to Triaminic. I do further believe it should be my choice to give it to him on a very limited basis and following the dosing instructions. Also, based on my experience with my son (now 4.5 years old) Tylonal or Motrin are not as effective for a severe cough as Triaminic or Delsym would be. I don't give him any other medication when he receives a dose of cold medicine and I only give him the recommended dosage. My Triaminic still has dosing instructions for children ages 2-6. That should tell you how often I use these medications. When they are sick I reach for the Motrin and Tylanol first. When that is not doing the job, I reach for Triaminic or Delsym. I do believe in them and will continue to use them. Hopefully there won't be people pulling them off of the shelf before my children turn 12.
12-22-2008 @ 12:11PM
BabyLove77 said...Removing these medicines from the shelves could possibly lead to even more overdoses and deaths due to parents giving their kids the adult versions of the medicine. Removing the medicine is not going to stop these people from abusing their kids. They'll just find a new way to do it.
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12-22-2008 @ 2:36PM
Katty said...I agree that removing the medicines is not the answer. Parents need to be educated on the risks associated with the medicine. Each bottle should have a warning label like a cigarette box reminding parents that it is important to follow the guidelines set by the manufacturer.
I was also told by other parents to go ahead and give my 2 1/2 yar old benadryl for a long flight and we refused, we didn't feel comfortable. I think its a slippery slope, first its for a flight, then a long car trip, then because they need a nap, I mean when do parents say that medicine is for sick kids only? It should be the standard.
12-22-2008 @ 5:05PM
Melissa said...Taking away medicine for children under 12 won't do a damn thing but allow the parents to give the children the adult version because they can't find the children's version. I have a 2 and a 1/2 yr old, and my doc (and the pharmacist) said it was fine to give her the children's version of the cold medicine (tylenol cold and flu, or tylenol cough, etc.) as long as I gave half of the lowest dose (the dose for children 6 and older). And half the time, I only give her a 1/4 of the dose. It may not work as quickly, but I certainly don't give her anymore then that right away. The box says 4 hours, I wait 6 or 7. Sometimes kids do need it to help at night (if my daughter gets a cough, that's when it is the worst), so please, don't punish responsible parents (like me, and my fellow commenters here lol), because some parents get a little crazed and give too much, or they simply don't read the package, or they are too tired to realize they are giving too much because they have been up all night with their child.
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12-22-2008 @ 11:47PM
ninainindia said...The dosage is clearly marked on the package, parents that give their children too much are doing this on purpose. Taking the medicine out of the shops is no solution, the solution is for people to start thinking about medication and make them realize that it's better not to give medication if not absolutely needed. This goes for adults too btw.
Especially the use of antibiotics should be cut down, I have only ever taken that once my whole life and that was fro Pfeiffer disease.
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12-23-2008 @ 11:09AM
SKL said...I agree with Niniainindia - pretty much all the kids that had this overdose issue were intentionally overdosed by their parents. They decided to ignore the dosage levels on the assumption that the manufacturers were being too conservative. And a LOT of people use medicine on kids who are not sick to control their behavior / sleep patterns.
I don't agree with making the OTC medicines illegal for all kids under 12. But for kids under, say, 6, they should either sell a really watered down version with lots of extra warnings, or ban the use without a doctor's supervision. Maybe they should also make it a lot more expensive, so people won't resort to it without thinking twice.
Personally, I don't medicate my children unless there's no other reasonable way to go. Once my daughter had fevers for days, and while I was able to keep the fevers down through intensive hands-on intervention, she could not sleep without heating back up. At some point she needed to sleep, so on day 3 I gave her a little Tylenol. That is the only time either of my kids has ben medicated while in my care. Occasionally I use special herbal teas for children, give them honey, make them breathe steam from boiling water if they have breathing trouble, etc. - these remedies are at least as effective as medicine without the toxic side effects. In addition, the hands-on care itself is calming and healing. However, my kids don't have a lot of health issues, so I wouldn't impose my standards on everyone else. There does have to be a line parents must not cross, though.
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12-23-2008 @ 7:30PM
David Robinson said...I hesitate to comment further on a subject about which there are such strongly held opinions. However, I must point out that if you give Tylenol in less than recommended doses it is likely not to work well. The effective dose is 10 to 20 milligrams (not mls.) per kg. body weoght. This can be given up to 4 hourly as necessary for misery but no more than 5 doses in 24 hours. It will also reduce fever but that is not its primary purpose unless the child suffers from febrile convulsions.
It is also important to point out that cough is a defensive mechanism - it prevents the infection from going down into the lungs and causing pneumonia - and should never be suppressed. The same thing applies to a runny nose; it is getting the virus and any bacteria out.
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12-24-2008 @ 1:22AM
SKL said...A small dose can be more effective in someone who is rarely medicated than in someone whose body is used to the medication. In addition, since everyone is different, it makes sense to first try a small dose and see how it works, and then increase only if necessary. My kid responded well to a dose that was only half of the "recommended dosage" when she had a high fever and was also teething at the same time.
If you rarely resort to medication, the body learns to soothe symptoms via biofeedback. Hence even when things get really bad, a smaller dose of medication is indicated for such individuals.
12-25-2008 @ 9:20PM
RX111 said...A cough is not always a good thing. It took us years to finally find out that that cough my child always had was asthma. She would cough so much that eerything she had in her stomach would come up. (yuck) becase she did not wheeze it was years untill we saw the right Dr.s to get the right type of meds. did I give her over the counter stuff at night at times yes. After 3 or 4 nights upf coughing you need sleep for your body to get better. You however were smart not giving your son the benadryl as about 3-5 % of the children who take it the side effect is hyperactivity not sleepines. i had a child at camp we were told not to give it too as she did not sleep for over 24 hours after one dose of it.