The death is being investigated as a probable overdose by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office.
“We’ve seen five [kids die from opioid overdoses] in the last 12 months, which is really unprecedented in the last 10 years,” said Sara Schreiber, the forensic technical director in the medical examiner’s forensic toxicology laboratory, according to WDJT.
Ms. Schreiber told WDJT parents need to ensure their opioid medications are safely stored because it does not take much of the medication to cause a child to overdose.
“A child when they pick something up will put it in their mouth and chew it, especially a young toddler,” said Ms. Schreiber. “The pills and tablets that these drugs come in are meant to be swallowed whole and absorbed slowly.”
All five of the deceased children Ms. Schreiber referenced were less than three years old.
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