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Review
. 2024 Jul 1;40(7):495-497.
doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000003166. Epub 2024 Apr 8.

The One Pill Can Kill Myth

Milton Tenenbein  1
Affiliations
Review

The One Pill Can Kill Myth

Milton Tenenbein. Pediatr Emerg Care. .

Abstract

"One Pill Can Kill" is a meme originating in the 1990s. This construct lists pharmaceuticals that have the alleged potential for fatality after the ingestion of a single pill by a toddler. However, its foundation is fundamentally flawed because it contravenes a basic principle of pediatric pharmacology, allometric scaling. Other than opioids, there are no literature examples of one pill killing a toddler. The negative outcome of the one pill can kill construct is inappropriate management manifested by over-referral of young children by poison centers to emergency departments for care, overly prolonged emergency department observation and needless hospital admissions. A more accurate construct is that one pill of anything other than opioids will not kill anybody with the caveat being that we are referring to regulated pharmaceuticals.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The author declares no conflict of interest.

References

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