I knew too much medicine could be dangerous for children, but this dangerous? Five-year-old Kimber Michelle Brown died from an overdose of two over-the-counter cold medicines while she was staying with her grandmother.
According to her autopsy, she had twice the limit of dextromethorphan (found in cough syrup) and high levels of Cetrizine (found in cold medicine). Coroner Dr. Carol Huser says it was the combination of these two medications that killed Kimber. And Dr. Huser thinks this horrible incident should be an important reminder to us: "People do not understand medication you buy off the supermarket shelf can be harmful. Common drugs like aspirin, Tylenol, and Benadryl will kill you if you take too much of them." For that matter, should we be giving young children under 6 cold medicine at all?
Pediatricians don't recommend cold medicine for children under 4, and many don't recommend it for older children, either. As with adult cold medications, these medicines may treat the symptoms but they won't cure your cold or even help you get well faster. And the risks from overdose and side effects aren't worth the relief for children. Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for relieving symptoms.
Stuffy nose: Saline nose drops and cool vapor mist.
Cough: Honey -- seriously. Half a teaspoon of honey for children aged 2 to 5 years, 1 teaspoon for children aged 6 to 11 years, and 2 teaspoons for children 12 years and older. It's not considered safe to give honey to babies under 1 year. This works for adults, too!
Fever, aches, and pains: For babies under 6 months, acetaminophen, and for children over 6 months, acetaminophen or ibuprofen as directed by your pediatrician.
And here's something I didn't know: Leg pain, cramps, and muscle spasms can be symptoms that your child has had toxic levels of medication. So if your child does end up getting cold medicine, watch out for those symptoms.
Have you ever treated your children with cold medicine? Do you have favorite homeopathic remedies for cold symptoms?
Image via watashiwani/Flickr
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Comments 93
If they dosed her by age and not by weight, she could have gotten an overdose quite easily without anyone suspecting.
Her grandma must have given her too much medicine. Why did she give her two different types of medicine? Whenever my son is teething I give him liquid baby tylenol. I give him have the recommended dose for his age. He thin so his weight isn't in the range of his age for the medicine.
If I had to guess, the grandmother dosed based on age, not weight, and this is something that needs to be stressed to parents. Don't do it based upon the age, go by weight.
Our pediatrician says ABSOLUTELY NO OTC cold medicine. How much did this woman give her?
yes i use the otc stuff. i don't think any child should be miserable with say a runny nose just because someone with a medical degree says so. i do however, always always always call the pharmacy before i mix medications. its free. and it could have prevented this.
Honey makes my son gag, then throw up. Learned that the hard way when I tried to trick him into taking some.