A combination two common cold and allergy medicines taken at the same time is blamed for killing a five-year-old girl.
ABC News reports Kimber Michelle Brown was spending the night at her maternal grandmother’s house, near Durango, Colorado, when the grandmother allegedly gave the child the lethal combination as she tried to treat the little girl for flu-like symptoms.
Investigators were unclear about why the child’s system contained high levels of dextromethorphan, commonly used in cough syrup, and cetirizine, the main ingredient in the allergy medicine Zyrtec. Both medicines are depressants.
Investigators said the child may have taken some of the medicine herself, or the grandmother might not have properly measured the medication.
Kimber had more than twice the adult upper limit of dextromethorphan in her blood and about 1.5 times the normal dosage of cetirizine in her system according to the coroner’s toxicology report.
The coroner ruled the overdose accidental but investigators had not yet eliminated the possibility of criminal charges in the case.
