Over-the-counter cold medications-postmortem findings in infants and the relationship to cause of death
| Autor: | Laureen J. Marinetti, Piotr Kubiczek, Brian Casto, Lee Lehman, Kent E Harshbarger, James Davis |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2006 |
| Předmět: |
Child abuse
Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Health Toxicology and Mutagenesis Poison control Common Cold Nonprescription Drugs Toxicology Analytical Chemistry Fatal Outcome Cause of Death medicine Environmental Chemistry Humans Cause of death Ohio Chemical Health and Safety business.industry Contraindications Infant Common cold Forensic Medicine Brompheniramine medicine.disease Acetaminophen Nasal decongestant Over-the-counter Autopsy business Coroners and Medical Examiners medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | Journal of analytical toxicology. 29(7) |
| ISSN: | 0146-4760 |
| Popis: | The Montgomery County Coroner's Office has encountered a series of 10 infant deaths over an 8-month period in infants under 12 months old with toxicology findings that include a variety of drugs commonly found in over-the-counter (OTC) cold medications. The drugs detected were ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, brompheniramine, ethanol, carbinoxamine, levorphanol, acetaminophen, and the anti-emetic metoclopramide. Toxicology findings were confirmed in 2 different matrices in 9 of the 10 cases and by 2 different analytical methods. The blood concentrations of the drugs and the case histories, as well as the cause of death for each infant, if available, will be given. The majority of these deaths were either toxicity from the OTC cold medications directly or as a contributory factor in the cause of death. Only two of the cases were the result of possible child abuse. Caregivers may be under the mistaken notion that OTC cold medications formulated for children are also safe for use in infants. These cases demonstrate that not only is administration of some OTC cold medications not safe, but use of OTC cold medications in infants can result in toxicity that can lead to death. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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