Are Transdermal Patches a Silent Killer?
A news story dated August 12, 2011 on the MSNBC.com news website written by JoNel Aleccia brought a troubling issue to light. It seems that transdermal patches, you know the medicated stickers that are being used for everything from prescription pain killers to helping you quit smoking, are actually killing children.
According to the story an 8 month old baby was admitted to the hospital this past June. He was unconscious, barely breathing and almost died. Why? It seems he had somehow gotten his tiny little hands on one of his grandparent’s fentanyl patches. Doctors found it stuck to the roof of his mouth and administered an anti-opiate antidote just in the nick of time. Unfortunately this is not an isolated case.
Currently more than 22 million transdermal patches are prescribed to patients per year in America alone and those numbers do not include the over the counter nicotine patches that are available to those who wish to stop smoking. These numbers pose a very real threat to children when the transdermal patches are not stored or disposed of correctly.
Currently there is no way to track exactly how many children have died or been exposed to risk but the numbers that have come to light are frightening. So far four children have died and 6 have been hospitalized that we know about since 1997.
Children have found these medicated stickers in home garbage cans, in medicine cabinets and they have even been transferred from patient to child via a hug or snuggle time.
Did you know that even after a transdermal patch has been used experts say that they are still active and dangerous for at least 72 hours?
The correct way to store these patches is behind a high shelf or in a locked cabinet the correct way to dispose of them is to fold them in half sticky side to sticky side and flush them down the toilet.
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