In an unusual but potentially dangerous case a 3 year old girl from Bahrain was taken into hospital after it was seen that she had inadvertently swallowed a pill of the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra. The accident has encouraged doctors and nurses to warn parents of the dangers of leaving small brightly coloured objects in places where toddlers can reach them. Viagra is a bright blue colour making attractive to children.

In this case the little girl was immediately rushed to hospital by her parents who immediately confessed to the problem much to their embarassment according to the doctor on duty at the time. An X-ray immediately located the pill in her stomach and a special form of treatment called black powder treatment was given to her as her blood pressure was falling rapidly. A Viagra side effect is that it causes low blood pressure and it is not to be used by men who suffer from low blood pressure as the consequences can be very dangerous.

The black powder treatment absorbed the Viagra and the little girl was soon sent home. The black powder is in fact charcoal that is very effective when given to patients who have swallowed the wrong medicine as it immediately absorbs the medicine when swallowed. The doctors at the hospital said that swallowing the Viagra could be very dangerous and potentially fatal to a young child and that if it happened it was essential to get treatment quickly. Often when children are given the wrong medicine they do a stomach wash and pump but in this case the charcoal treatment was sufficient.

Ukmedix advises all its patients to keep all drugs and pills in medicine cabinets that are preferably locked and out of reach of children and to never leave pills and any sort of medicine lying around.