Phenergan Supp given to toddler; child dies

My condolences to you and your friend for the loss of a child. I had a somewhat similar experience. My toddler who was 2 1/2 was vomitting in the morning on and off for weeks and we were told by the pediatrician that it was most likely Motrin induced gastritis. I had been giving him motrin and tylenol on and off because he had been cutting molars and kept complaining that his "mouth hurts." After a few more weeks of vomiting we went back to the pediatrician and he gave my son a phenergan injection for the vomiting. He told me it would make him very drowsy for several hours. My son indeed was very drowsy all afternoon and barely woke up to get into pjs for the night and take little fluids so as not to dehydrate. I fully expected him to wake up in the middle of the night ready to go for the day. He did not. At 6:30am when his twin woke up we could not wake the other toddler. He was completely unresponsive. We called the doctors office and 911 and began CPR as he started to turn blue in our arms. He went into respiratory depression and into a coma. We also found out at the same time that he had a brain tumor as well. He went into multiple cardia arrests and respiratory arrests all day long. We took him off of life support two days after. The pediatrician at the childrens hospital was very upset that the pediatrician had given my son phenergan as she said it was contraindicated for a child that small. I realize my child had a terminal illess that we did not know about, but I do believe the respiratory arrest led to his immediate death.

I understand and can sympathize with loss of a child so unexpectedly. Its been very difficult for our family.

God Bless.

I WAS an RN in NICU (taking some time off to raise a family). I am unfamiliar with Phenergan. Obviously we did not use it in my area.

I have a very tragic situation....A very good friend of mine brought her toddler to our local ER for vomitting and dehydration from viral Gastroenteritis. The child was under two and small for her age (9.5 kg). After waiting more than two hours with symptoms worsening (vomitting blood), her child was given a Phenergan suppository 12.5. No IV was given. No exam was performed. My friend think it was actually the 50 dose based on the color of the packaging and size of the supp. Later, when her daughter coded, the child was given Epinephrine (excessive dose). I have been able to find out that Epi contraindicates with the Phenergan (Lippincott). Her child died. She had me look over the records and the Phenergan stuck out.

What has been your experience with Phenergan supp in pediatric patients? Thanks for your input.....Mom23

First off... The issue with medicine not being equally distributed. Our pharmacy tells us that this is an old school thought and not true at all. They say that it IS evenly distributed... well, according to our pharmacy.
Second... we almost NEVER give phenergan to little ones under 3-- we almost always give TIGAN instead. Less side effects.