New Report Says 100% of Arizona Children’s Poisoning Deaths Preventable

Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center Responds

Tucson, Ariz. – At a time when the Arizona Legislature is threatening to eliminate funding for The University of Arizona’s Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, research by the Arizona Department of Health Services concludes that 100 percent of the state’s poisoning deaths in children under the age of 18 in the year 2007 were preventable.

In 2008, the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center received 10,874 calls about possible poisonings of children under the age of 5 alone. None of the cases managed by the center resulted in a death.

The Department of Health Services’ conclusion is among a number of findings published by the organization’s Arizona Child Fatality Review Program in its Fifteenth Annual Report issued in January 2009.

Key findings of the report include:

• In 2007, 1,143 children younger than 18 years of age died in Arizona.
• 17 percent of all child deaths involved illegal drugs, prescription drugs and/or alcohol.
• There were 24 deaths of children due to poisonings.
  • 83 percent of those poisonings were accidental.
  • 29 percent were listed as unintentional overdoses.
  • 50 percent were acute intoxications.
• Half of the poisoning deaths were due to prescription medications, with opiate painkillers identified most frequently.
• 100 percent of poisoning deaths were determined to have been preventable.

In its report for 2007, the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program noted that child deaths involving substance use increased 41 percent between 2006 and 2007 (from 140 in 2006 to 198 in 2007). Consequently, the program team made the following recommendation to the Prescription Drug Subcommittee of the Arizona Substance Abuse Partnership:

• Develop educational materials for parents with children of all ages regarding the safe storage and disposal of prescription medications.

Community education has long been part of the outreach mission of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center. In 2007 and 2008, the education arm of the center distributed 158,000 pieces of poison prevention educational materials to Arizonans and reached more than 3,000 people in training sessions. These activities were carried out by one half-time person.

For more information on the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, visit http://www.pharmacy.arizona.edu/outreach/poison/index.php.

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center is part of The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. For more information on the college, visit http://www.pharmacy.arizona.edu/.

For more information on the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program’s Fifteenth Annual Report, visit http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/owch/pdf/cfr2008.pdf.

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