"Getting into prescription or over-the-counter medicines at home is a major source of accidental poisoning for young children.
Yet, nearly half of parents say they have leftover prescriptions at home, a new poll shows.
We found that it's common for parents to keep medicines long after they are expired or no longer needed, which creates an unnecessary health risk for children," said Sarah Clark. Younger children getting into medicine in the home is a major source of unintentional poisoning. For older children, access to these medicines brings risk of experimentation, diversion to peers, or other intentional misuse," Clark said in a university news release.
While more than 60% of parents said they are more careful about disposing leftover prescriptions than over-the-counter medication, most also believe it's important to properly dispose of expired or leftover medicine to prevent children from getting into the medicine and to protect the environment. But many still didn't know where to put it."
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