Australian Boy Dies From Methadone Overdose After Medical Missteps

A series of medical missteps and a family’s dire living circumstances contributed to a six-year-old boy’s tragic death after he mistakenly drank his parents’ methadone when it had been mixed with orange juice. The boy, who was referred to in the New South Wales (NSW) State Coroners Court only as MO, drank the mixture at his home in the Northern Rivers region of NSW before he died in hospital on August 6, 2018. His parents, who both suffer cognitive impairment, were on the NSW Opioid Treatment Program and had been prescribed the opioid replacement medication methadone. The court heard they were allowed to self-administer up to 12 “takeaway” doses each week from their dispensing pharmacy....