In recent years, poisoning has overtaken firearms as the second leading cause of death from injuries, trending right behind motor vehicle accidents, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report says that death rates for motor-vehicle traffic-related accidents and deaths from firearms decreased from 1979 to 2006, whereas the rate for poisoning more than doubled during the same period. And from 2005 to 2006, the poisoning death rate increased 13 percent, whereas motor-vehicle traffic and firearm death rates remained unchanged.
The CDC defines a poison as "any substance that is harmful to your body when ingested (eaten), inhaled (breathed), injected, or absorbed through the skin. This definition does not include adverse reactions to medications taken correctly." Most deaths from poison are unintentional.
In a second report on poisoning that focused on children, the CDC said that prescription and over-the-counter medications account for almost 7 out of 10 emergency room visits for childhood poisonings. Each year more than 71,000 children ages 18 and younger visit hospital emergency rooms for unintentional medication overdoses. Most of the ingestions are among toddlers.
"Unsupervised medication ingestions caused over 80 percent of the emergency department visits. These emergency department visits for unsupervised ingestions are ten times more common than overdoses from medication errors by a parent or caregiver," said Daniel Budnitz, M.D., the senior study author.
The medications children most often consumed included acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) opioids (such as Percodan) or benzodiazepines (such as Valium and Xanax), cough and cold medicines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (such as aspirin and ibuprofen), and antidepressants.
One explanation for the increase, according to the report, is that more adults and children are taking medications at home and more are taking multiple medications. "The high frequency of medication usage and the rising number of medications stored in American homes increases the potential for medication overdoses ... especially among children," the report states.
The CDC is working with drug manufacturers to encourage the implementation of passive safety innovations, such as individual dose packets. In the meantime, parents can take some common sense measures to make sure their children don't have access to medications. Put your medications in a locked medicine cabinet or box and be sure to always replace child-resistant caps. When parents of small children visit other people's homes, they should make sure the homeowner's medications are also out of reach. The CDC has more good advice including what to do if a poisoning occurs.
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