Primary Care Perspectives: Fatal Poisonings - Episode 153

Primary Care Perspectives: Podcast for Pediatricians

It’s hard to call an opioid overdose an accident when it happens to a young child — at home and under supervision. Some fatal poisonings are deliberate or even malicious. But such is the opioid epidemic. Christopher E. Gaw, MD, MBE, assistant professor at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, shares the latest findings from his recent study on fatal poisonings among young children. His findings include common themes, risk factors and demographic characteristics among victims; the shift from prescription to synthetic opioids; and as a result, how the emergency department has had to adapt to better counsel families on childproofing and preventing accidental ingestions; examples of community involvement and intervention; and more.