--- title: Codeine Given to Children Despite Risks, New Study Says description: At least half-a-million children receive codeine prescriptions each year, a new study suggests. canonical: https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-21T12:06:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:24:22.710Z article:section: Health og:title: Study: Children given codeine in ER despite risks og:description: At least half-a-million children receive codeine prescriptions each year, a new study suggests. og:url: https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study: Children given codeine in ER despite risks twitter:description: At least half-a-million children receive codeine prescriptions each year, a new study suggests. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Study: Children Given Codeine in ER Despite Risks > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3dc1670d-20f6-42af-8ac3-ad2a36f0e848&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 21, 2014 12:06 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Apr 21, 2014 12:06 PM UTC The painkiller codeine is prescribed to kids in at least half-a-million emergency room visits, [a new study suggests](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kids-get-codeine-er-despite-risks-guidelines), despite recommendations in place to limit its use among children. Only 3% of children’s ER trips in 2010 resulted in a codeine prescription, but with kids making 25 million ER visits each year, authors of the study say too many children are getting the opiate, the Associated Press reports. The study, published Monday in Pediatrics, analyzed national data from 2000 to 2010 on emergency room visits by children between the ages of 3 to 17\. The study’s authors say the annual number of visits that led to codeine prescriptions ranged from approximately 560,000 to 877,000, though the frequency of codeine treatment slightly declined during the study. A pediatric drug expert told the AP that codeine use has likely declined further since the study ended after last year’s strict warning from the Food and Drug Administration about the drug’s risks and possible complications. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kids-get-codeine-er-despite-risks-guidelines)_\]_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/"},"headline":"Study: Children Given Codeine in ER Despite Risks","datePublished":"2014-04-21T12:06:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:24:22.710Z","description":"Too many kids are getting codeine in emergency rooms, say the authors of a new study, which estimates that at least half-a-million children receive prescriptions each year","url":"https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/","keywords":["medicine","Children","FDA","Pediatrics","Food and Drug Administration"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/69988/children-codeine-study/","name":"Study: Children Given Codeine in ER Despite Risks"}}]}] ```