Local

Family says boy took medication found on floor near Walmart pharmacy

MORROW, Ga. — A 5-year-old boy went to the hospital after taking blood pressure medication he found on the floor at a metro Atlanta Walmart.

Denny Morris' father says the boy picked up two pills off the ground at the Walmart in Morrow and swallowed one of them. His oldest brother saw him and handed the other pill to their mother, who asked the pharmacist what it was.

"He said it's a high blood pressure medication you all should be OK," explained Joshua Morris, Denny's father.

Morris told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri he and his wife weren't convinced, so they asked to speak with a manager and finally insisted the store call poison control. That's how they learned the dose Denny consumed would have been prescribed for a large adult and the child needed immediate medical attention.

"She said, 'Don't go anywhere, don't do anything, we're calling EMS,'" Morris said. "'He needs to be taken to a children's hospital.'"

He went by ambulance to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where Morris said doctors pumped Denny's stomach and hooked him up to an IV to monitor him overnight.

"If nobody would have said something and we'd brought him home, anything could have happened in that room in there when we put him to bed tonight," Morris said.

A Walmart spokesperson stated, "Walmart has strict procedures and controls to prevent any medication from leaving the pharmacy prior to being dispensed. Once a customer takes possession of it it's out of our control. As we were made aware of the situation we contacted poison control and 911 for immediate attention on the incident."