Kids can get into dangerous things around the house. Even after the baby-proofing stages, there are everyday items parents still need to keep locked up and out of reach of children ““ medications being one of them.
While prescription bottles come with child-resistant caps, more than 9,000 children younger than six (three-quarters of these are one- and two-year-olds) are hospitalized annually due to accidental ingestion of prescription drugs according to The New York Times.
A new study shows that “the most often implicated medicines contained buprenorphine, used for treating narcotic addiction and sometimes as a pain reliever; and clonidine, a substance in medicines for high blood pressure, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and migraines, among other ailments.”
Also, from The New York Times, “Individually packaged pills might be one way to make these products safer,” said the senior author, Dr. Daniel S. Budnitz, the director of the Medication Safety Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But, he added, “The message now to caregivers is to keep medicines up and out of sight of children, especially immediately after use.”
Do you have extra medications around the house? Learn how to dispose of them safely and keep them out of your child’s hands: What do I do with my leftover prescriptions?
