Parents and medical providers are being called on to be careful with prescription cough medication as overdoses among children are on the rise.
Calls to poison control centers in the United States reporting the ingestion of prescription cough medicine by children rose by 158% between 2010 and 2018, according to a study published Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that pediatric poisonings involving the drug benzonatate, sold under the brand name Tessalon, have increased each year. Most cases of unintentional exposures involved children 5 and under, according to the study.
Benzonatate is used as a cough relief for people ages 10 and older.