By SubstanceMedication Safety
FDA Encourages Americans to Dispose of Unused Prescription Opioids Safely
More than 100 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose, and millions are addicted to opioids. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched Remove the Risk, an education and outreach campaign to raise awareness about the serious risks of keeping unused prescription opioids in the home and...
Keeping Your Family Safe Around Medicine
Today there are more medicines in the home than ever before, and this increases the potential risk to children of accidental medicine poisoning. Every year, more than 59,000 young children are seen in emergency rooms because they got into medicine while a caregiver wasn’t looking. Almost every minute of...
Child-Resistant is NOT Child-Proof
It seems as though those hard-to-open bottles have been around forever. And for new parents today, they have. But what is the reason and history behind the child-resistant packages?
Back to the 1960s children were dying from poisonings in large numbers. The country developed an education program to warn parents...
The Curiosity of an Infant: Poison Dangers
A new study raises awareness of the dangers of unintentional exposure to poisons for babies 6 months and younger.
Traditionally, this has not been an age group that poison center educators have focused on, because infants aren’t up and walking about. But while a young baby may be less mobile,...
A Word of Caution As You Treat the Flu
What do a lot of people do when they feel achy and are running a fever? They go straight to the medicine cabinet for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine.
While OTC drugs can be helpful in controlling flu symptoms, it is easy to overdose on one very commonly available drug. Acetaminophen...
Beware of Certain Food and Medicine Interactions
Some foods just go together – peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, cake and ice cream. But did you know that taking some prescription drugs with certain foods, beverages or over-the-counter (OTC) medications could be risky, even a recipe for a severe health reaction?
According to specialists with the...
Thinking Medication Safety As The Kids Go Back To School
Most schools will soon be back in session and for some Texas children, who take prescription medications during the day, a little extra planning is required before they head off to school or daycare. Every year the Texas Poison Center Network receives calls from schools and daycare centers about...
How Can I Keep Up With All The Recalls?
Lead Poisoning! Food Poisoning! How am I supposed to keep up with all of the recalls? Have you asked yourself that question recently? It seems like every day we hear about another product that has been recalled for one reason or another. Parents do have to work hard to...
How Should I Get Rid Of My Old Medicines?
In the past, Poison Centers have recommended just flushing those old unwanted or expired drugs down the toilet or putting them down the sink. These recommendations were made specifically to prevent accidental ingestion and poisoning of children and pets. Studies over the past several years though have shown this...
You Need to Know: Infant’s & Children’s Acetaminophen Medicine Changes
What is the change?
In the past, there have been two different concentrations of acetaminophen-containing liquid medications (such as Tylenol®) for children. These were infant (concentrated) drops that contained 80 mg of acetaminophen in each 0.8 mL and children’s liquid that contained 160 mg in each 5 mL. These two...
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