The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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December 21, 2011

2 EHS students sent to emergency room after misuse of medication

By Phyllis Zorn, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — Misuse of an over-the-counter cold remedy got two Enid High School students taken to the emergency room Wednesday.

According to Amber Fitzgerald, school and community relations director for Enid Public Schools, the students were both 10th-graders.

“A teacher was concerned about a student’s behavior and contacted administration, who came and checked on the student,” Fitzgerald said. “They were able to figure out the student had taken an excessive amount of over-the-counter cough medication.”

Her parents were summoned to the school to take her for medical treatment, Fitzgerald said.

Soon thereafter, the high school office was notified another student was behaving the same way in a bathroom. That student’s parents also were notified to pick her up and take her for medical treatment.

Fitzgerald said items found by campus police lead them to believe the students took a large amount of Coricidan Cold and Cough medicine.

Campus police are continuing to investigate the matter of where the students got the cold medication, Fitzgerald said.

Enid Police Sgt. Dustin Albright said the product is a popular choice among teens seeking to get high.

Scott Schaeffer, managing director of Oklahoma Poison Control Center, said Coricidin Cold and Cough contains two ingredients — chlorpheniramine and dextromethorphan — that can cause symptoms like being drunk when taken in large quantities.

Irregular heartbeat and suppression of breathing are two complications that can result from taking large quantities of the drug. The poison control center gets calls about this product about once a week, Schaeffer said.

Schaeffer recommended parents be alert for signs their children could be abusing the drug. If they find the packages, do not ignore the possibility their teen could be misusing it, Schaeffer said.

He also said everyone who answers the phone at the state poison control center is medically trained. They include pharmacists, physician’s assistants and nurses. If parents have suspicions their teens are abusing the product and have questions about what to watch for, the poison control center welcomes them to phone.

The poison control center can be reached at (800) 222-1222.

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