Kudos to local NBC affiliate KALB Channel 5 for their airing of a report on the effectiveness of child-resistant medicine bottle caps. Accidental poisoning of children dropped dramatically by 65% after the CSPC enacted regulations requiring child-resistant caps for most medicines. However, child-resistant does not mean the cap is child-proof. In fact, recent studies involving elementary children showed that the child-resistant caps could be opened by 25% of the children under age 10.
It remains incumbent on us as responsible parents to keep medications away from the reach of our children. The child-resistant caps may slow them down, but a resourceful child given enough unsupervised time may well be able to pry those caps off. Should the unthinkable happen and your child opens and swallows any medication, call the Louisiana Poison Hotline at 800-222-1222 and seek medical help immediately.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
