Help Your Kids Stay Safe This Summer — Keep All Medicines Up and Away
Published June 21, 2023 (revised June 24, 2024)
Kids can get sick if they swallow medicines, vitamins, or other supplements they’re not supposed to – including those that come in gummy form. Help your kids stay healthy this summer by keeping your medicines in a safe place — whether you’re at home or on the go.
Consider these tips to store medicines safely:
With hectic summer schedules, it’s easy to forget about everyday tasks. Don’t forget to put medicines, vitamins, and other supplements away right after you give or take them, every time.
Keep medicines in a place kids can’t see or reach — like in a high cabinet or on a high closet shelf.
Planning a family vacation? Be sure to pack your medicines in child-resistant containers. If you’re staying in a hotel, you can put medicines in the hotel room safe or on a high shelf in the closet.
Be sure to keep your vitamins and other supplements —including those in gummy form —up and away and out of sight and reach too!
If you think your child may have swallowed a medicine, vitamin, or other supplement, get help right away — even if you’re not sure. Call Poison Help at 800-222-1222 or go to PoisonHelp.org.
If you watch television, flip through magazines or newspapers, surf online, or listen to the radio, you are probably familiar with “direct-to-consumer” advertisements (ads) for prescription medicines. The US and New Zealand are the only two developed countries that allow drug companies to advertise prescription medicines directly to the public. These ads are popular with new medicines that treat chronic conditions such as diabetes and insomnia. In fact, 8 of the top 10 selling medicines in the US currently broadcast or publish at least one “direct-to-consumer” ad portraying happy and satisfied patients. It’s a big business, with drug companies spending an estimated $6.5 billion on “direct-to-consumer” ads in 2016 alone.
As approval of medical marijuana spreads state by state, labeling problems have led to errors
Today, 33 states plus the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) have legalized medical marijuana (and 11 states plus DC have legalized recreational use of marijuana). Medical marijuana is different than the street product. With medical marijuana, growers must confirm the products’ contents, so this information can be passed on to dispensaries and patients. However, each state has its own regulations for medical marijuana. This has resulted in a wide variety of medical marijuana products and safety concerns, particularly with the labeling of these products.
