Doctors from the University Multi-profile Hospital for Active Treatment (UMBAL) Burgas saved a child who overdosed on epilepsy medication. By law, it is sold only with a prescription, but it was bought freely in a pharmacy by a group of teenagers who decided to take it to "have fun", the hospital reported.
After taking five 75 mg pills, one of the boys loses consciousness and faints on the street. He was admitted with life-threatening injuries, he had several seizures, and intensive treatment and monitoring were required.
After a few days in the hospital, he was discharged home, said Yulia Andreeva from the hospital's press center.
"This is another case of overdose with exactly this medication, which should not be sold without a prescription", said Dr. Nuray Velieva, a pediatrician at the Second Children's Department of Burgas University Hospital and on duty the night the child was admitted.
The police have been informed about the case, the Burgas University Hospital said.
An investigation has begun into how the dangerous medication was purchased freely, although by law it is only available with a doctor's prescription.
According to the children, the medication was purchased from a small pharmacy in Burgas. It is used in patients with epilepsy to suppress seizures. However, when taken by healthy people, it has the opposite effect – excites the brain and leads to severe seizures.
In recent months, there has been an alarming increase in the number of cases of children admitted to the hospital after overdoses with dangerous drugs and suicide attempts, in which medications were also used.
One of them is a 13-year-old girl who injected herself with her aunt's insulin after a love heartbreak, after her parents forbade her from having a relationship with an older man.
Doctors from Burgas University Hospital appeal to parents to be especially careful during the fragile teenage years.
They advise to monitor for changes in behavior - sudden withdrawal, mood swings, increased interest in dangerous "challenges" on social networks, as well as conversations between peers related to medications, experiments and the search for strong sensations.
It is extremely important to maintain a constant, calm and trusting dialogue, to show interest in their environment, the online content they follow and their emotional experiences, especially in cases of love disappointments, feelings of rejection or peer pressure.