Medicine Mix-Up Fells 9 Infants in Tel Aviv
Nine infants were hospitalized for severe intoxication in Tel Aviv after mothers mistakenly gave them an alcohol-based antiseptic instead of stomach medicine sold in similar bottles, health officials said Tuesday.
All of the infants are about a month old, newspaper reports said.
Babic, a medicine commonly used to treat gas pains in infants, is packaged in white plastic bottles that look like those containing an alcohol-based antiseptic used externally.
Although the two products have different labels, the mothers apparently confused the bottles while trying to give medicine at night, the Yediot Aharonot daily said.
The alcohol caused breathing difficulties, lowered the infants’ blood sugar and made them sluggish and sleepy.
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