CDC Warns Thousands of Children Sent to ER After Taking Common Sleep Aid

The agency said melatonin, which can come in sugary gummies, has led to a sharp increase in ER visits.
CDC Warns Thousands of Children Sent to ER After Taking Common Sleep Aid
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 23, 2020. Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
|Updated:
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A U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) paper released Thursday found that thousands of young children have been taken to the emergency room over the past several years after taking the very common sleep-aid supplement melatonin.

The agency said that melatonin, which can come in gummies that are meant for adults, was implicated in about 7 percent of all emergency room visits for young children and infants “for unsupervised medication ingestions,” adding that many incidents were linked to the ingestion of gummy formulations that were flavored. Those incidents occurred between the years 2019 and 2022.

Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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