Between tots' cough and cold medicines being pulled from store shelves, and a New York teenager dying from a muscle-cream overdose, the past year's scares are grounds for renewing a healthy fear for the products stowed in your medicine cabinet.
In the spirit of Poison Prevention Week – which began on Sunday and runs through Saturday, March 22 – experts from the Ruth A. Lawrence Poison and Drug Information Center, located in the University of Rochester Medical Center, urge you to be cautious when medicating with any product, especially those below.
Last April, the death of New York City-area high-school track star Arielle Newman shocked the nation; the young woman allegedly died of a muscle-cream overdose, perhaps from frequently slathering her sore muscles with gobs of popular over the counter relief ointment, such as Ben-Gay and Icy Hot.
“Over time, these leads to the dangerous build up of methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory similar to but more potent than topical aspirin,” said Ruth Lawrence, M.D., the medical director of the center, which serves the 12-county Finger Lakes area. “This is a sobering example of too much of a good thing becoming a bad thing. Anything can be a poison; it's just a matter of amount. It's wise to read the warning labels and to consult your doctor before turning to any medicated cream routinely.”
Not all pain-relievers are equal, especially when it comes to kids. Aspirin can be dangerous to children 16 or younger, possibly causing Reye's syndrome – a rare but potentially fatal disease that damages the liver and the brain. The syndrome has been linked to children who were given aspirin during or recently after having a viral illness, like chicken pox.
“We can't stress the importance of proper dosage and medical guidance before giving children any medication,” said John Benitez, M.D., M.P.H., the center's managing director. “That said, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, are the better choices for kids.”
Still, even adults have to be careful with over the counter pain relievers.
“Just because they don't require a prescription doesn't mean they're harmless,” Benitez said. “In the past five years, the number of calls we receive related to acetaminophen overexposures has risen steadily, and now accounts for just over 6 percent of all calls. And the past few years, nearly two dozen of those exposures resulted in unintentional death.”
Formerly a medicine cabinet staple for inducing vomiting in the case of accidental poisoning, syrup of ipecac has come under new scrutiny. A recent expert study has shown that vomiting alone doesn't rid poisons from the stomach, and actually, the syrup can delay the administration of more effective treatments. Moreover, having it in easy reach may encourage misuse by bulimics, which in turn can lead to heart damage and in grave cases, death.
“Ideally, parents should now keep activated charcoal on hand instead,” Lawrence said. “And, if a poisoning occurs, they should call us first. We would let them know if, when and how to use it.”
Activated charcoal may be purchased at most pharmacies.
In recent months, the Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory, saying that that parents and caregivers not use over-the-counter cough or cold medications for children 2 years old and younger. The medications had not been shown to be effective, yet many contained multiple active ingredients that parents might accidentally combine, causing serious side effects related to overdose. Pharmacies pulled the products from their shelves.