Toddler in Intensive Care After Swallowing Methadone in Poste-de-Flacq

A two-year-old child is fighting for life in intensive care after accidentally swallowing methadone in the Poste-de-Flacq area, located on the east coast of Mauritius. The incident has shocked the local community and renewed calls for greater vigilance around the storage of controlled substances in homes where young children are present.

Methadone is a prescription opioid medication used in Mauritius as part of an officially supervised drug substitution programme. The programme, overseen by health authorities, provides methadone to people dependent on heroin or other opioids as a way to reduce harm and support recovery. Patients are typically given daily doses to take home, which is where the risk of accidental ingestion by children arises.

For a toddler, even a very small quantity of methadone can be life-threatening. The drug acts on the central nervous system and can rapidly cause respiratory depression, loss of consciousness and cardiac complications in young children whose bodies cannot process opioids the way adults can. Emergency medical response and intensive care treatment are critical in such cases.

Poste-de-Flacq is a coastal town in the Flacq district and home to a public hospital, Flacq Hospital, which serves the eastern region of the island. It is not yet confirmed which facility is treating the child.

This type of incident is not unique to Mauritius. Health agencies worldwide have consistently warned that methadone prescribed to adults must be stored in child-resistant containers and kept entirely out of reach of children. In households where a caregiver is enrolled in a substitution programme, the responsibility to secure the medication is paramount.

What this means: This case highlights a serious public health and child safety issue tied to Mauritius's methadone substitution programme. While the programme plays an important role in reducing drug-related harm among adults, incidents like this one point to a gap in safety education around secure medication storage. Parents and guardians who receive methadone doses at home must treat the substance with the same caution as any other highly dangerous drug, keeping it locked away and completely inaccessible to children. Health authorities may need to reinforce guidance on safe storage as part of the dispensing process.

An investigation is expected to be conducted by police and child protection services to determine the circumstances of how the child gained access to the substance.

Source: Le Defi Media