MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Giving a cranky child cough medicine to put him or her to sleep may not seem like child abuse, but it can be dangerous or even deadly for the child.
Parental misuse of cough medicine nearly killed one Texas infant recently, according to Amitava Dasgupta, a toxicologist called in to consult on the case. The infant came into Children's Memorial Hermann "in bad shape" and was taken directly to the intensive care unit and put on a ventilator, he said.
The mother gave the infant one dose of "cough medicine in the afternoon and one in the evening to put the baby to sleep so it wouldn't disturb them," Dasgupta said.
He suspected it was an occasional trick used by the mother. It was unclear whether the infant got an adult or pediatric dose.
"The baby became unresponsive ... and almost died from an overdose of dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in cough medicine," he said. "In this case, it was not an intentional overdose, it was lack of information."