The rate of Australians experiencing poisoning from ADHD medications has more than tripled. This concerning trend has led professionals to strongly advocate for the immediate improvement of safety practices. In 2023, emergency responders logged over 3,242 instances of ADHD medication overdose. This is a shocking four times increase from 2014. Clonidine and methylphenidate are the two most popular medications tracked in these reported cases. Equally troubling, each one of these excuses comprises approximately 35 percent of all cases.
Poisonings—children less than 15 years old make up an alarming 72 percent of unintentional poisonings. This statistic highlights the fragility of younger patients. Healthcare professionals and families alike are understandably alarmed by the rise in ADHD medication poisoning. Serious side effects, such as trouble breathing, hypotension, and syncope, which commonly fall under the category of AEs with neostigmine, render this issue urgent.
Between 2013 and 2020, Australia’s rate of ADHD diagnosis more than doubled. This alarming increase in diagnoses led to a drastic increase in prescriptions. Just during the 2023–24 period, more than 4.6 million prescriptions for ADHD-related medications were filled for nearly 600,000 patients. Alarmingly, 87 percent of these prescriptions were for psychostimulants such as Ritalin.
Experts stress the need to dose medications properly and store them safely.
“Just one double dose of clonidine can put a child in hospital and with side effects this serious, it’s vital that both families and healthcare professionals are aware of the dangers and providing families with guidance,” said Amy Thompson, a clinical pharmacist.
The challenges associated with medication administration become more complicated by the need for ADHD medications to have more exact dosing.
“One problem can be that medicines are sometimes prescribed at quarter or half-doses of tablets, which can be tricky to administer accurately,” Thompson added.
Greg Kyle, another clinical pharmacist, made note of the nuances that went into dosing.
“We need to adjust dosages according to people’s different characteristics, and that’s why we don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to dosing,” he explained. “It’s not just a case of saying ‘we’ve got a 50 kilo 12-year-old, we will give them half the dose of a 100 kilo adult’; it doesn’t always work that way.”
In addition to challenges with dosing accuracy, miscommunication among family members may result in accidental overdoses.
“Another reason can be miscommunication within the family, typically where both parents give their child a dose of medication, not realizing the other has already done it,” Thompson noted.
Furthermore, children’s natural curiosity can lead them to explore medications meant for siblings or parents, exacerbating the risk of accidental poisonings.
“Children can also be curious and try out their siblings’ medication, underscoring the importance of storing medicines safely out of reach,” Thompson said.
The rise in poisonings is not just due to failures in educating patients or communicating with families. There may be further issues of appropriate formulations not being available in Australia, particularly for the ADHD medications.
“There’s no clonidine mixture available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to enable much finer control of dosing for ADHD,” Kyle remarked. He emphasized that very small doses can be difficult to administer accurately given the size of the tablets.
During the last 10 years, more than 8,000 people required hospital treatment for ADHD medication poisoning. These depressing numbers illustrate the dramatic increase in poisonings. This increase isn’t just a random anomaly, it’s symptomatic of an underlying issue that deserves our urgent focus.
More rigorous standards are exactly what safety advocates have been calling for. Specifically, they demand better education for families and healthcare professionals about the dangers of ADHD medications. Caregivers, remember to always keep medications locked up. If you suspect a reaction, contact poison control on 13 11 26 immediately.
