POISONING

In hindsight, it surprises me that drug-dealers took so long to make their product so appealing to children.  We now have to be on the alert for drugs that look like, and in many cases taste like, powdered candy.  While illicit drugs are now marketed to look attractive to young children, the pharmaceutical industry hasn’t recognized the dangers inherent in their own marketing of prescription drugs.    Medicines often look like candy.  Household cleaning products look like food.  As a parent and a professional it is nearly impossible to distinguish between an Altoid and aspirin, a SweetTart or M&M from cold medicine, a jelly bean from an iron supplement, a chocolate bar from a laxative, a Skittle from an antibiotic, and chewing gum from aspergum (aspirin specifically marketed as gum!)   Despite this, we expect our children, curious by nature, to distinguish between them and to recognize the danger.

The pharmaceutical industry is not exclusively to blame.  Although not necessarily marketed for this purpose, other common and potentially dangerous household products resemble candy or food.  Beer and soda.  Grated cheese and cleansers.  Mouse bait and candy.  Mothballs and marshmallows.  Pine-Sol and apple juice.  Windshield washer fluid or anti-freeze and Gatorade.  This list is far from complete. 

Other than insisting on changes in flavoring, coloring, packaging, and marketing, parents and child-care providers can take steps to ensure their children’s safety.  Always have the phone number for poison control readily available:  1-800-222-1222.  Potentially dangerous items should be out of reach of any child, preferably under lock and key.  Keep medications and chemicals in their original containers with intact labels.  Do not use Tupperware to store non-food items.  Do not store medications with food.  Do not refer to medicine as “candy” or “the pink bubble-gum liquid” (as we often do for amoxicillin).   Do not take your medicine in the presence of children as they often mimic adult behavior.  Discard old medications or unused medications. 

Annually, over 2 million poisonings are reported to poison control centers in the United States.  Millions more may be treated in emergency rooms or by phone with a primary care physician.  The majority involves children less than 5 years of age and are treated at home, by phone, using information provided by poison control centers.  The overwhelming majority of poisonings are unintentional and entirely preventable.  As parents, we have an obligation to be aware of this problem and take action to ensure our children’s safety. Now, if we could only get the drug-dealers to stop marketing their product to our youngest most vulnerable children…