Opioid overdose continues to affect children

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- A new study is saying that U.S. poison-control centers receive 32 calls a day for child overdoses.

That averages out to around one call every 45 minutes of cases where children have been exposed opioid-prescription pain pills.

The study, published Tuesday by the Pediatrics journal, was conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Research found centers received over 188,000 calls from January 2000 through December 2015.

Steve Carrel, CEO of Muskingum Behavioral Health, said the issue is a problem that happens rather easily.

“A lot of medications look like candy,” said Carrel. “Toddlers just pick things up and stick them in their mouth that’s what toddlers do, and as a result of that we’ve seen nationwide an increase in calls to the poison centers.”

According to the study, 60 percent of children were age 5 or younger and 30 percent were ages 13 to 19 years-old.

“Children can die sometimes even from a single pill because some of these medications are extremely potent and we have little bodies that are consuming them,” said Carrel.

The study also found that 96 percent of the opioid exposures happened right at home.

“Parents need to, everybody, grandparents, parents anybody needs to lock their medications up preferably in a lock box that way you have the key and nobody else can get in. And you don’t have to worry about other people who might be visiting your home, your kids friends, your friends, finding out that you might have a prescription for one of the opioids and take off with a few or all,” said Carrel.

The number of exposures saw an increase from 2000 to 2009 but then decreased from 2009 to 2015. Some of the medications causing the calls were hydrocodone, oxycodone and codeine.

Carrel suggested another way to prevent this problem is to dispose of any unused medication.

At the Zanesville City Jail there is a lock-box for safe, anonymous disposal. Another option, the drug drop off drive-thru’s. The next drive-thru will be April 29th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department’s downtown parking lot.