Indianapolis News and Headlines

Actions

Ohio toddlers saved with opiate antidote

Posted at 7:47 PM, Feb 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-03 19:47:59-05

According to WKBN in Youngstown, Ohio, two children were taken to an Ohio hospital Tuesday, as officials believe the kids had opiates in their system.

The children, a 9 month old and a 21 month old, were resuscitated with naloxone, a drug used to reverse heroin and opioid overdoses. Officials said when the children were brought to the hospital, they were breathing but unresponsive.

The kids were transported from Warren, Ohio to nearby Akron Children’s Hospital, and were given a second dose of naloxone Tuesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, the children were in stable condition, but remained in the hospital.

Police said the hospital’s quick response helped to stabilize the children’s condition.

Completed toxicology reports are expected to be ready on Thursday. The children’s mother, 18-year-old Carlisa Davis, is the police’s main suspect, according to Warren Police Captain Nick Carney.

Carney said that the police want to be sure the children had opiates in their system before filing criminal charges on the mother.

“She was the primary caregiver and the kids were in a situation they shouldn’t have been in,” Carney said at a press conference.

According to CDC figures, 2 million people are addicted to opiates, and the drug takes 16,000 people annually. Opiates are used in a prescription pain killers and illegal heroin.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced a $1.1 billion play to fight opiate and heroin addiction.