A 5-year-old Connecticut girl is listed in stable condition after she was accidentally fed noodles laced with the illegal hallucinogen PCP Monday. The girl’s mother, Hope Brodie, 26, had cooked PCP in a kitchen pot on Sunday and the same pot was used by a relative the next day to make the child’s dinner.
The girl, exposed to residual PCP, according the the New Haven Police Department, began hallucinating shortly after eating the pasta and was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital where she was treated for “internal irregularities,” according to The Associated Press. Brodie has been charged with risk of injury to a minor, and the Department of Children and Families has become involved in the case.
“The child presented with the typical PCP-like effects, and the hospital consulted with us,” says Buddy Sangalli, director of the Connecticut Poison Center. “With pediatric patients especially, the hospital will often consult with a poison center.”
PCP poisoning in a child can cause hallucinations, change in body temperature, increased blood pressure, seizures and even coma. It can also indirectly damage the kidneys and muscles, he says.
“Adults who take the drug are somewhat prepared for what to expect from it. A child would have a more severe reaction and might be more frightened, which might affect their overall body function and put extra stress on the heart,” says Sangalli.
