Prescription Drugs and Kids; What you Need to Know

As a parent, it can be difficult to know how your child will react to certain medications. 

Allergic or adverse reactions are often not known, until the drug has been administered.

So how do you make sure your child stays safe following a surgery or serious accident? Pharmacist Hashim Zaibak says identifying problem medications remains a difficult task. 

    "It's extremely hard," he says. "It's not something that you inherit from your parents, there are no risk factors with it." 

It's been nearly six months since the FDA approved OxyContin use for children ages 11-16. Zaibak says powerful drugs like that should be monitored closely by parents.

       "It can suppress the breathing to a point where the patient can actually die. Oxycodone is a serious medication, and it's a medication we pharmacists and physicians treat with respect.

Zaibak recommends contacting a second pharmacy after you've received your prescription, to double check that prescriptions and directions are accurate. 

       "You can always call another pharmacy and just say hey, I got this prescription, can you please double check and make sure this is an appropriate dose? We'll be more than happy to double check it for you."