GA Child Fatality Review Panel Warns Against Misuse of Antihistamine Medicine

The Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel is issuing a warning against the use of antihistamine medications for the sole purpose of making children sleep or calm down.

According to the GCFR panel, misusing these medications can cause acute diphenhydramine intoxication that can result in rapid heart rate, confusion, hallucinations, convulsions and even death.

Special Agent in charge Trebor Randle said that after taking a poll, the panel realized how common this practice is.

“We mentioned a poll that had been taken that was quite alarming for us that dealt with child death as a result of this,” said Randle. “We know that this is an issue and it’s happening more often than people think because they don’t understand that it’s a problem. Moms are telling us that they thought it was OK because it’s what their friends are doing or their mother recommended that they do for maybe a fussy baby or for long car rides. But they aren’t aware that it could actually lead to death.”

Since 2013, the Georgia Poison Control Center has received 940 reports of this condition involving children ages 5 and under.  In Georgia, four infants have died because of the toxic effects of diphenhydramine since 2015.

Randle reminds parents and caregivers that any medication should only be administered for its intended use. She explains the intended purpose of antihistamines.

“Most parents know that the antihistamines are used to treat allergies or allergy related symptoms,” said Randle. “If a child is having an adverse reaction to something they’ve been exposed to and they’re itchy or have a rash then it’s appropriate to administer antihistamine or Benadryl or others.”

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration advises that children under age two not be given any kind of cough and cold product that contains a decongestant or antihistamine, because serious and possibly life-threatening side effects could occur.

Randle advises parents to seek advice from a physician when unsure about what kind of medication to give their child.

“I would advise them to seek advice from their physician,” said Randle. “You never want to administer medication to a child for any use other than what it’s intended for. If you administer any medication, you want to be aware of what the proper dosing is as well because we see a lot of dosing errors when it comes to small children. Certain amounts of certain medications and chemicals in high dosage have proved to be deadly.”

If you don’t have a local doctor or pediatrician to refer to and think you gave too much medication to your child, immediately contact Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or start a LIVE CHAT with a poison information specialist at www.georgiapoisoncenter.org.