The Food and Drug Administration Has Issued a Safety Alert Due to a Rise in Cough Medication Poisonings Among Children

A new study published on Tuesday found that as the number of prescriptions for the cough suppressant benzonatate increased (marketed as Tessalon), the number of reported pediatric benzonatate overdoses also climbed.

Scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture have found… The FDA said their research, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, serves as yet another warning against letting kids access medicines.

Because “oral exploration is a natural component of development in infants,” they added, “accessibility to medical items at home provides a risk for unintentional ingestion in young children.”

Benzonatate, a medication used to treat coughs caused by the common cold or the flu, is not recommended for children under the age of 10, according to the study. An overdose can result in suffocation, airway compromise, CNS depression, and death.

The study revealed that reports to U.S. poison control centers of children swallowing benzonatate increased by 159% over an eight-year period, from 308 instances in 2012 to 799 cases in 2018. There were six fatalities among the 4,689 cases documented.

Findings show that both children who were accidentally exposed to the drug and children who misused it on purpose exist, with the latter group consisting primarily of youngsters aged 10 and up.

They reported that the number of intentional exposures increased from 49 in 2010 to 210 in 2018, with minors aged 10 to 16 accounting for slightly over half of the misuse/abuse cases and virtually all suspected suicide attempts.

Prescriptions for benzonatate among children grew by 62% between 2012 and 2019, according to the study’s authors, who attribute the rise to “efforts to decrease unnecessary narcotic prescriptions” in response to the opioid crisis.

The FDA has issued a death risk statement for children under the age of 10 who accidentally consume benzonatate since at least 2010.

Credits: CBS News