Storing methadone in babies' bottles puts young children at risk

EDITOR —On 28 January 1998, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard that a 3 year old boy had died after aspirating gastric contents secondary to the ingestion of methadone. The methadone had been stored in a baby's bottle. The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death.

We investigated the extent to which babies' bottles are used to measure and store methadone. Nine general practitioners agreed to participate in a study whereby they would ask three questions of each consecutive patient to whom they prescribed methadone in …