Abuse of Over-The-Counter Drugs on the Rise Among Tweens

Teens and tweenagers abuse over-the-counter drugs and self medicate at very significant rates, according to concerned officials from the Georgia Poison Center.

Research has found that children start self-medicating at the age of 10 or 11. Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director at Georgia Poison Center said they get calls three or four times a week about young kids over dozing on medicine easily available over-the-counter.

This issue is a cause of concern as the children are not aware about the exact doses of drugs which they should consume. Around 58,000 children from the U.S. end up in hospitals after overdosing themselves with common drugs like ibuprofen and acetaminophen, which can be very fatal if taken in high amounts.

"It's not unusual for them to be taking it for pain or even for fever reduction," Lopez told My Fox Atlanta. "You've got to remember, at this age group, parents are trusting kids to take these medications, and of course, that's a no-no."

The American Association of Poison Control Centers is joining hands with Scholastic in order to educate parents about the crucial guidelines, which they should follow in order to keep their children away from the adverse effects of overdosing and abusing over the counter drugs.

The parents should take precautions by keeping the prescription safely and storing the drugs out of children's reach, Lopez also advises parents to read the dosage instructions carefully before the consumption of the medicine.

"..store the medication with the proper dosing device and read the label to make sure you're not giving two medications with the same ingredient, like acetaminophen," Lopez advised the parents.

"Many of the calls that we get are from parents who decided to give their child medication, or instructed their child to take medication, and then they read the instructions and then they read the label," Lopez said. "We want all of that to be done ahead of time to avoid any potential poisoning issues."

Parents can visit the following site in order to learn more about keeping over-the-counter drugs safely in their home: https://www.scholastic.com/otcliteracy/parents/