Sadistic Sedation

Children and drugs

Sedating children is an awful way to try to get them to behave.  Chances are they will grow up abusing drugs and wind up in drug treatment.

However, with all the pharmaceutical advertisements it is no wonder that parents think that the quick fix for anything is a pill.

The drug abuse is not just coming from the parents in this case.   They are also victims in a marketing scheme that eventually will destroy the customers.

“Sedating children with over-the-counter or prescription medications may be an under-recognized form of abuse, CNN reported July 22.

Researchers who looked at data from the National Poison Data System found an average of 160 cases of ‘malicious administration’ of pharmaceuticals to children per year, with 1,439 cases between 2000 and 2008. The study found that 14 percent of cases resulted in injuries and 18 kids died.

Sedatives were the most common drug administered, but parents also gave kids antidepressants, stimulants, and antipsychotics.

“Anytime you’re giving a medication for any other purpose other than for what it’s explicitly prescribed for, you run the risk of harming your child,” said Shan Yin, the author of the report.

“If [parents give kids medicine] for medical a reason, that’s one thing,” James Hmurovich, the president and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, added. “If moms are at wit’s end and the stress is building up and they’re tired, that’s not a good use of over-the-counter medications.”

The findings were reported in the Journal of Pediatrics.

source