11 Fla. Students Hospitalized After Taking Cold Medicine
HIALEAH, Fla. --
Eleven students from Hialeah Middle School were rushed to a hospital Tuesday after ingesting an over-the-counter drug, a fire official said.
Word spread around the school that at least 11 seventh- and eighth-graders got together before classes to share some little, red pills from a box of over-the-counter cold medicine.
The students became ill after taking Coricidin Cold and Cough, an antihistamine in pill form, according to Lt. Cesar Espinosa, of the Hialeah Fire Department. The slang term for the medication is Triple C.
Espinosa said one child brought the medicine to school and then gave it to his friends, who then complained of nausea and dizziness.
"All were experiencing some symptoms, some more than others," Espinosa said.
Investigators said they believe the students voluntarily ingested the tablets.
According to poison control experts, the medication can have symptoms including seizures as well as cardiac dysrhythmia, so the children were transported to a hospital in case the symptom s worsened. All but two of those affected went to Palmetto General Hospital, while the others went to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Most experienced minor symptoms but were taken to a hospital as a precaution because of potential side effects, which include seizures.
From Sky 10 overhead, paramedics could be seen taking students out of the school on wheelchairs and stretchers.
"This is messed up," one student told Local 10's Terrell Forney as he was being wheeled into an ambulance.
"They did it because it's 4-20," another student told Local 10, referring to the date. The term "420" has culturally become known as a code or symbol for marijuana.
Some students said word had spread around the school on Monday that the drugs would be passed out on April 20.
Miami-Dade School Board police are now investigating the incident.
