Whoops… I dropped my pill and now I can’t find it! Has that ever happened to you?
Yesterday morning as I was opening up my pillbox one of my little pills launched itself right out of off my hand, landing on the kitchen floor somewhere near my left foot. That’s what it sounded like anyway. But after bending over I just couldn’t see it. I even went down on my hands and knees looking but it wasn’t anywhere I could see. Fifteen minutes of careful searching later, I finally faced the facts: that yellow capsule of vitamin D had disappeared.
Small children and pets can find pills on the floor. When you and your family are together for the holidays, are your children and grandchildren and pets safe from accidentally ingesting a dangerous dose of prescription medicine?
Many Americans take at least one prescription medicine. One survey done in 2008-9, found 9 out of every 10 Americans reported taking at least 1 prescription medicine within the previous month. 31% of all Americans take at least 2 prescription medicines and 11% take 5 or more prescriptions every day.
Unfortunately, it only takes 1 or 2 pills to trigger a tragedy. Most pain and heart medicines are designed for full-size adults, not inquisitive toddlers or small pets. Whether its pills on the floor or bottles on a table, little children and powerful pills don’t mix well.
With Christmas almost here, many families plan a visit over the hills and through the woods to grandma and grandpa’s house. But is grandma’s house safe enough for your little ones?
Here’s how to avoid 3 common causes of accidental ingestion:
1. Put pillboxes away when small children visit.
I like pillboxes for their convenience and ability to help us remember whether we have taken our medicines. Many of us keep them in plain sight to remind us to take our medicines, but they can be easily opened. For toddlers who are curious and quick, a pillbox can create an irresistible challenge, and one without a happy ending. Moving them out of reach or locking them up is more effective than trying to keep track of grandchildren when you’re visiting.
2. Remove pill bottles left out, especially any bottles or vials with “easy-open” tops.
Child resistant tops have saved many lives but they are a hassle to open especially if your grip strength is not what it used to be or you have arthritis. Designed to slow children down long enough to be discovered before they ingest their contents, one of the main reasons you get brand new prescription bottles with every refill is to ensure that their child-resistant lids don’t become worn enough to be easy to open. Dispensing prescriptions with child-resistant lids is strongly encouraged; if you don’t want them you must sign a waiver.
Even if they don’t sign a waiver to get “easy-open” lids, many older adults don’t use their child-resistant lids “correctly”. When they bring their prescription bottles in to the doctor or pharmacist to review, I often see prescription bottles with brand new labels but the lids replaced with older, more worn ones that turn easily. Other bottles have lids that are barely latched.
Still others, like my late mother-in-law, insisted on “recycling” her old pill bottles with their child-resistant tops into the toy box for her grandchildren to play with. As a young pharmacist and new parent I’d insist instead on sorting through the toy box first to gather up any pill bottles before letting my daughter Maureen play.
3. Lock up and carefully dispose of pain pills and patches.
Locking away pain medicine, especially narcotic or opioid medicine like Vicodin® and oxycodone can prevent tragedy. Teenagers report getting their supply of narcotic pain pills from their family and friends’ medicine cabinets. And medicines designed for adults weighing over 150 pounds are particularly dangerous to a 30-pound child or pet finding them on the floor or in a trash can. Nearly everything picked up by toddler or dog will find its way into their mouth, where enough powerful narcotics can be swallowed or sucked out to trigger a tragedy. Vacuuming floors where you may have dropped a pill and sealing up used patches by folding them together before disposal help ensure a safe holiday season. If the used patch contains a narcotic or opioid like fentanyl, the FDA recommends flushing it instead of leaving it in your trash.
