The Journal of Pediatrics recently published a study showing thtat over the past decade increasing numbers of young children have been hospitalized or injured due to accidental poisoning from prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The majority of the cases involved unintentional self-ingestion for example where a child finds pills from an open container prescrived to a bparent or family member. Fewer cases were a result of errors in dosing. If you have young children in your home take precautions to ensure that the children cannot accidently ingest your medications. Medication bottles should include child-resistant caps and be kept in a locked container box or cabinet. If you transfer your pills to a pill-minder container make sure it is safely secured and outside of the reach of children. If you see a child accidently ingest a prescription or OTC medication immediately contact your local poison-control center and the chiild’s health car provider. if the child appears to be having a serious reaction call 911 immediately.
