Doctors at Sick Kids Hospital confirm that codeine can be fatal for children.
Codeine is often administered to young patients after tonsillectomies to relieve pain, but according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, this treatment can be fatal.
Doctors studied the question after a case was reported in which a child in good health had a tonsillectomy and died two nights after codeine was administered.
An autopsy concluded that codeine was the cause of death. The child’s body had processed the codeine too quickly into morphine, causing toxins to accumulate. Breathing became increasingly difficult, and impeded functioning of the lungs.
Doctors no longer recommend codeine for any use by children.
Millions of tonsillectomies are performed in Canada each year. They are also performed to treat sleep apnea.