More kids poisoned by meds

As more American adults are prescribed pharmaceutical drugs, more children are being poisoned by accidentally taking drugs prescribed for adults, a study finds.

The study, published in the June 3 edition of the journal Pediatrics, looked at data from the National Poison Data System and National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys from 2000 through 2009, finding children are most likely to be poisoned by drugs used to treat diabetes, high cholesterol, pain, cardiovascular disease, glaucoma and migraine, according to CBS News. In that time frame, there was a 30 percent increase in the rate of emergency-room visits due to medicine poisoning.

“Increasing [numbers of] adult drug prescriptions are strongly associated with rising pediatric exposures and poisonings, particularly for opioids and among children 0 to 5 years old,” the researchers wrote.