3 March 2011 - NZ Herald
People who use nicotine replacement therapy are being warned of the harm it can do to children - after a huge rise in calls to the National Poisons Centre and three "serious exposures".
Nicotine gum, lozenges and related products are safe if used by smokers at recommended dosages, but major overdoses can cause symptoms including irregular pulse, breathing difficulties and, in some cases, death.
The Government, through the Quit Group, promotes and subsidises nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as a quit-smoking aid.
The National Poisons Centre has recorded a steady increase in the number of calls it receives about the exposure of children to NRT, from five in 2004 to 27 in 2009 and 49 last year.
In a report this year to the Ministry of Health, the centre says paediatricians have noticed an increased number of children being exposed to NRT.
"There have been three serious exposures recently in Nelson."
Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board paediatrician Dr Nick Baker said yesterday that three pre-schoolers had been hospitalised with symptoms including nausea, salivation, agitation and vomiting.
They recovered.
"Many people carry around a potentially lethal dose of nicotine. We advise that people treat their nicotine replacement therapy as a medicine and keep it out of reach of children."
The poisons centre report says in one case it investigated, the child had ingested 25 pieces of gum.
