Medicine Poisons 4,000 Kids

By NAOMI McELROY

AROUND 4,000 Irish children are accidentally poisoned every year.

The figures, from the Poisons Information Centre in Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, prove most kids end up in hospital after taking prescription or over-the-counter medicine.

Now the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) wants the HSE to collect unused drugs.

Such schemes already exist in some parts of Dublin and the Midlands, but the group is calling for it to be rolled out countrywide.

The IPU yesterday claimed millions of euro worth of medicines are being wasted and thrown away by patients who don’t know how to take them properly.

Speaking at the union’s AGM, pharmacist Keith O’Hourihane also warned one in five OAPs fear they aren’t taking their tablets properly.

He added: “The findings as very concerning given the strong possibility of accidental overdose.”

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