Parental substance abuse and accidental death in children.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_92C2174520F6
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Parental substance abuse and accidental death in children.
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences
Author(s)
Palmiere C., Staub C., La Harpe R., Mangin P.
ISSN
1556-4029[electronic], 0022-1198[linking]
Publication state
Published
Issued date
05/2010
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
55
Number
3
Pages
819-821
Language
english
Abstract
In this report, the authors present two cases of accidental death in children of addicted parents. In the first case, the child was left unattended at home while the mother went out to buy cocaine. She was arrested and detained with no mention of the unsupervised child. The cause of death in this case was determined to be starvation and dehydration. In the second case, a child mistakenly received a methadone suppository by her father instead of an antipyretic suppository. Toxicological analysis of the femoral blood revealed methadone at a concentration of 1.2 mg/L. The cause of death was determined to be methadone intoxication. The literature is reviewed and discussed. We report these cases to illustrate the risk of harm to children from illicit drugs and prescription medications at home and because there is no mention of accidental death in children following a methadone suppository administration in the current literature.
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
20/07/2010 16:47
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:55
Usage data