Coricidin

I'm writing to you today concerning a medication called Coricidin. On Friday February 7, 2004 a young man, who will remain nameless, walked into the Burien, Washington QFC grocery store and stole a box of 24 coricidin tablets, an 18 pack of Budweiser, and 2 forty-ounce beers. The young man was thirteen years old. This child met up with my fourteen year old daughter, who at that moment was drug free and convinced her to take the over the counter medication as a way of "Feeling good/ getting high". This is an example of peer pressure at it's best.

Two hours later my daughter called for me from her bedroom. She told me what she had done, and told me she felt sick. She was very frightened. I asked her what she had taken, how much and where she got it. I asked her why she did this. She answered my questions honestly. She said she didn't want to die. She said she didn't think experimenting would hurt. She had taken sixteen Coricidin tablets. I immediately called poison control, they advised me to get medical attention immediately.

When we reached Highline Hospital they took her strait back to a bed. Once there they inserted IV's and hooked her up to vital machines. Her heart rate was 145; mind you a normal rate varies between 60-100. Her breathing rate was 45 times a minuet. The average respiration for a 14 yr old child is 14-20 times per min. As she lay in that hospital bed with electrical cords attached to her chest and tubes in her arms, my heart felt like it was breaking. Do you know what it's like to hear your child ask, "Mommy am I going to die?" I do, and I can tell you that it is the most horrible thing next to loosing that child you can face. Imagine you couldn't answer that question because the situation was beyond your control. Now imagine begging your child to slow their breathing and try to stay calm that you understand that they are scared but if they don't calm down they will make things worse. Imagine that you are holding their hands as their body shakes and their eyes stream with tears. Do you see how disturbing this would be for a mother who loves her child more than anything in this world?

My daughter knows all about drugs. As a parent I psychologically inoculated her with the pros and cons of drug abuse. I followed every means possible to prevent her involvement but it was not enough to prevent this tragity. She made it through this horrible experience with minimum complications. The effects suffered ranged from being scared, to physical problems such as lack of sight, hyperventilation, and dangerously increased heart rates, to feeling high for days after the occurrence. She has vowed to never touch medications legal or otherwise again for recreational purposes.

After speaking to Dr. Bob Baugher a psychology professor here at Highline Community College I decided to follow Dr. Baughers advice. I looked up information concerning this drug on-line. What I found was a national disaster! Preteens as young as 12 years of age are dying because over doses brought on by the Coricidin. The abuse rate is rising daily. After collecting data I decided to visit the QFC grocery store down the road and talk with management.

I walked into the store, found the Coricidin on the shelf, and asked to speak to the store manager. Kevin came out and asked if he could help me. I held out my hand and said, "Hi, my name is Jesi, and 1^st I'd like to give these to you." I handed him the boxes I had collected from the shelf. I showed him an 8X10 photo of my daughter. I told him this is my 14-year-old daughter. On February 7 this child almost died from an over dose of Coricidin. I continued to explain how she had acquired the drug. I expressed my concern about their storage of medication. I pointed out that the medication is located in the back of the store in isle 6A. I explained that his cashiers could not possibly see when a child steals medications. I asked him to change the location of the meds so that it could be supervised. Kevin told me that he is not capable of such dicission making. I asked him to provide me with the information I needed to contact the person responsible for the store lay out and medication ordering. We walked over to Customer Service, and as he looked for the information I needed, I noticed, in the glass case behind him there were, Trojan condoms, pregnancy tests, cigarettes, and one type of medicine (a box of Kroger Brand Antihistamine nasal decongestant cold and allergy). Sad that they keep protection behind glass but not the most harmful of drugs that has killed many teens in the United States. He gave me the following address and phone number:

QFC Bellevue Office

10116 NE 8th Street

Bellevue, Washington

98004

425-455-3761

Fax# 425-990-6589

Before I left the store I thanked Kevin and told him I hoped that I would get attention to this from the address he gave me. I told him I would not give up. I meant that.

I left QFC and walked over to Bartell's Drugs. Again, I walked in and gathered one of each of the Coricidin boxes from the shelf (five different boxes). I asked a clerk to allow me to speak to the Manager. Rod Guild stepped out and I again held out my hand and told him my story. As I showed him my daughter's photo he said, "I think I know where this is going." I shook my head yes, and finished telling him what happen. At first, I thought he was going to react like Kevin at QFC did. Instead he said," You got this off our shelves?" I nodded my head, YES! He walked over to the Cold Medicine section looked at me and said, "I'll take care of this." Mr. Guild immediately began to take the items off the shelf. He showed me others he had taken to a glass cabinet prior to my visit. I asked permission to add his name to my letter and any articles I planned to send out, he said he didn't mind. I thanked the man, and left with a feeling of accomplishment.

My story is not unusual, my daughters over dose is not unusual. Children all over the United States are over dosing, and dying daily. I called the poison control 1-800 number. I asked them how many cases of overdose do they get daily involving Coricidin. The gentleman I spoke to said, " We deal with tons of HBP cases". He said "there isn't a day that goes by that at least one Coricidin overdose case isn't called in to the Poison control hotline."

As of today, February 10, 2003 at 5pm John Dempsi from the QFC store corporate office has informed me that ALL QFC stores will be taking the Coricidin off the store shelves. I feel that this is an accomplishment we can all learn from. I ask you to help me protect our children. I ask you to help make Coricidin less accessible. I ask that if you aren't the one who makes the discussions for where and when kids come in contact with the drug that you pass this on to those who can. I am asking people to walk into their local stores and follow my footsteps; this is a peaceable way to force the change. If the store disagrees with your protest and you can't gain cooperation contact the media, papers, news, and make them see the danger. Our children's future depends on the prompt actions of the adults in charge of their care. May another child never die in vain!

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

Jessica Montgomery

"An activist mom"