More Children Accidentally Poisoned By Fentanyl

March 12, 2025
Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

The number of children poisoned through exposure to fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, has skyrocketed in recent years, researchers have reported.

Fentanyl poisonings increased by 924% among children 12 and younger between 2015 and 2023, and by 1,506% among teens 13 to 19, researchers reported March 8 in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

In 2023 alone, 45% of the poisonings were life-threatening incidents in which kids could have died without prompt treatment, up from 16% of cases in 2015.

“We can’t forget that kids are also at risk during this opioid crisis,” said lead researcher Joseph Palamar, an associate professor of population health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.

“Parents and others need to be careful to not leave fentanyl, whether licit or illicit, out in the open around unsupervised children,” he said in a news release. “Even second-hand exposure to paraphernalia or baggies can contain small amounts of fentanyl [that] can be lethal to youngsters.”

For the study, researchers reviewed calls and reports made to U.S. poison control centers in 49 U.S. states between 2015 and 2023.

More than 3,000 fentanyl poisonings among children 19 and younger were reported to poison control centers during that period, researchers explained.

About 59% of the poisonings occurred in teenagers, with 41% happening involving kids 12 and younger.

Boys accounted for 59% of fentanyl poisonings, researchers said.

About 82% of poisonings among children 12 and younger were unintentional, results show.

On the other hand, 66% of 13- to 19-year-olds were using fentanyl to get high when they were poisoned, researchers found.

These results show that the U.S. continues to battle a severe opioid crisis fueled by fentanyl use, researchers said.

Counterfeit pills containing fentanyl have flooded the illicit market, researchers said in background notes.

In recent years, 7 of 10 counterfeit pills seized have contained a potentially deadly amount of fentanyl.

“Parents need to be aware that teens can purchase pills via apps that are sold as Adderall or Xanax but actually contain fentanyl,” Palamar said.

“Children may touch or ingest such items out of curiosity, through a lack of a sense of danger, or even imitation of a parent who uses,” he added. “Even used fentanyl patches can lead to accidental or intentional poisonings among pediatric populations.”

Senior researcher Joshua Black, a senior scientist at Rocky Mountain Poison & Drug Safety in Colorado, said parents should keep naloxone on hand to counter any accidental overdose that might occur from fentanyl or another opioid.

“Parents and peers need to be able to promptly detect signs and symptoms of opioid overdose — including looking pale, slow or no breathing, coma, sometimes constricted pupils — and know when to seek help,” Black said.

“We encourage people to contact a poison center if they suspect a poisoning (1-800-222-1222) or call 911 if someone collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing or can’t be awakened following drug use,” Black concluded.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on fentanyl.

SOURCE: Taylor & Francis Group, news release, March 8, 2025

Fentanyl