PATIENT SAFETY FACT SHEET: TEENS/CHILDREN

 

• Teens and young adults who receive their initial opioid prescriptions from their dentists or oral surgeons are at increased risk for opioid addiction in the following year. 2018 https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-12-opioid-prescriptions-dentists-linked-youth.html

 

• More than 156,000 calls to US Poison Control Centers regarding exposures to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications among children and adolescents 19 years of age and younger from January 2000 through December 2014, averaging 200 calls each week or 29 calls per day.  May 2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180521092704.htm 

 

• Nearly half of 1.34 million calls to poison centers each year for children relate to medicine. Also, the percent of 15-19-year old’s experiencing medication poisoning is more than six times greater than the percent for 1-4 year old’s. https://nabp.pharmacy/teens-and-toddlers-at-great-risk-of-accidental-medication-poisoning-study-finds/ 

 

• A study of malpractice lawsuits involving children visiting emergency departments found that meningitis, appendicitis and broken arms were the most common misdiagnosed conditions.  https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/health/healthspecial2/15mistakes.html?ref=healthspecial2   

 

• Diagnostic errors are the most common source of malpractice payments, the most costly and the most dangerous when it comes to patients’ health. April 2013  http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/24/diagnostic-errors-are-more-common-and-harmful-for-patients/#ixzz2ujgazouk 

 

• Diagnosing children with psychiatric disorders is even more problematic and potentially harmful than diagnosing adults. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/suffer-the-children/201105/six-problems-psychiatric-diagnosis-children 

 

• The Dangers of Using Children as Their Parents Interpreters Migrants dream of a better life for themselves and their family in a new country. However, the process of transition is never easy. New residents of the United States, no matter their country of origin, previous financial standing or educational level, all have issues to deal with as they adapt to a new life. https://www.dynamiclanguage.com/the-dangers-of-using-children-as-their-parents-interpreters/ 

 

• In 2019, the teen birth rate was 16.7 (births for every 1,000 females ages 15-19), down four percent from 2018 and down 73 percent from the 1991 peak of 61.8.¹ There were 171,674 births to females in this age group, which accounted for less than five percent of all births in 2019. https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health/reproductive-health-and-teen-pregnancy/trends-teen-pregnancy-and-childbearing