Lock Your Medication Day - Don’t Ghost the Facts!

Approximately 35,000 Emergency Department visits result from unintentional medication overdoses among children under the age of five years, and over 90% of those visits involve children who gained access to a medication on their own without any caregiver insight.⁽¹⁾

National “Lock your Medication” day is a reminder to each of us how important it is to ensure that these substances remain out of sight and out of reach for anyone other than the patient they are intended for. These guidelines are important for all age ranges, and are especially important for our youth, as they can be naive of the harmful effects that these medications can have on them.

So What’s all the ‘Spook’ About?

Children typically receive information on medications from one of two ways.

1. Personal experience using medications administered from a parent.
2. Observing their peers or family members taking medications.

Without the proper knowledge, medications can be viewed as something that does not pose a risk for one’s health, making children vulnerable to drug abuse or accidental medication overdoses.⁽²⁾ Not only does this pose an immediate risk to a child, it also poses a risk for drug use later in their life. Many adolescents have the false belief that medications prescribed or commonly used for over-the-counter treatment provide an inexpensive, accessible, legal, and medically safe ‘high’.⁽³⁾ As a matter of fact, four out of ten teens believe prescription and OTC medications are less addictive and dangerous compared to street drugs.

There are many reasons that our youth may choose to intentionally or unintentionally overuse medications. It is critically important to be aware of the most commonly abused medications so we may take preventative measures!

Medications to keep an eye on:

• Opioids: Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Tylenol + Codeine, etc.
• Benzodiazepines: Alprazolam, Clonazepam, Diazepam, Lorazepam, etc.
• Non-benzodiazepine hypnotics: Eszopiclone, Carisoprodol, etc.
• Stimulants: Adderall, Focalin, Concerta, Ritalin, etc.
• OTC Dextromethorphan-containing products: Robitusin, Mucinex DM, Theraflu, etc.
• OTC laxatives and diet products: MiraLax, Dulcolax, caffeine, etc.
• OTC sedatives: Unisom, NyQuil, etc.
• OTC Pseudoephedrine products: Sudafed, Allegra-D, Claritin-D, etc.

Here’s the Trick!

Below I have listed a few tips that we commonly recommend to patients at CHI Health Pharmacy to take protective steps during not only the month of October, but all year long!

• Remove all medications from common areas in the home and lock up for your use only.
• Keep a regular inventory of medications locked within your at-home medication cabinet.
• Educate children and adolescents on the proper use of medications and the negative effects that can happen if taken incorrectly.
• Remove any excess or expired medications through proper medication disposal found at any CHI Health Pharmacy!

References:

1. “Protect Initiative: Using a Healthy People 2030 Objective to Advance Children’s Medication Safety.” PROTECT Initiative: Using a Healthy People 2030 Objective to Advance Children’s Medication Safety - News & Events | Odphp.Health.Gov, ODPHP, health.gov/news/202308/protect-initiative-using-healthy-people-2030-objective-advance-childrens-medication-safety. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

2. Syofyan, Syofyan et al. “Children's Perception and Belief about Medicines: Effectiveness and Its Autonomy.” Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences vol. 7,152556-2562. 9 Aug. 2019, doi:10.3889/oamjms.2019.662

3. “Meducation.” Lock Your Meds, lockyourmeds.org. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.