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Right arrow Therapeutics & Toxicology

PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 6 December 1999, p. e75

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Codeine Intoxication in the Neonate

Received Dec 11, 1998; accepted Jun 4, 1999.

Barbarajean Magnani*, Dagger and Richard EvansDagger

From the * Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, and the Dagger  Office of the Chief of Medical Examiner, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts.

Although opiates can provide patients with relief from pain and the discomfort of cough, the routine prescription of these drugs for infants demands caution and concern. Infants, particularly neonates, are not merely small adults requiring smaller dosages, but rather uniquely different patients. Neonates present with an immature physiology and biochemistry with respect to drug metabolism. We report a case of codeine intoxication in the neonate, in which the drug was prescribed for cough control during an emergency department visit.

 Key words:  codeine, neonate, toxicity, morphine, fatality.