Malaysian police said they had arrested two parents they believe fed their children a liquefied form of addiction treatment methadone after their 11-year-old son died
A boy has died and his two siblings have been left in critical condition after their mum allegedly fed them a drug used to treat heroin addiction.
Police in Selangor, Malaysia, said in a statement released on Wednesday that the three children were rushed to the Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin Hospital in Kajang, a town to the south of Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, early that morning. They had been informed by medical officers at the hospital that one child, an 11-year-old, had sadly died, while two others, a five and nine-year-old, were left in critical condition.
Local media reported that the children, all of whom were boys, had allegedly been fed a liquid form of methadone, an opioid treatment drug, at a home in Sungai Ramal Buru.
The Straits Times reports that the children’s parents, a 35-year-old woman and her 44-year-old partner, was arrested after allegedly giving her sons the drug, which is used as a safer substitute for heron to treat people suffering from drug addictions. Police have now started looking into possible motives, a source told another local outlet, Berita Harian, and how the drugs could have been obtained.
An anonymous neighbour speaking to the press said neither the parents nor children acted strangely before the incident, adding that the family’s youngest had always played with her own child.
She told local reporters: “The youngest child would always play with my child along the corridor in front of the house. Almost every afternoon, he would be there playing.” The mum added that she was “quite familiar” with the family’s daily routine, and said she had “never” seen or heard the children’s parents arguing.
The neighbour said: “As far as I know, I never heard or saw the parents arguing. Their children often came here, so we were quite familiar with their daily routine.”
Selangor chief of police Comm Datuk Shazeli Kahar confirmed only the arrests in a brief statement, saying: “The victims’ parents, aged 35 and 44, have been arrested.” Methadone is one of several medicines addiction treatment centres use to treat heroin withdrawal symptoms, which can include debilitating anxiety, restlessness, sweating and feeling sick, muscle cramps and diarrhoea.
People are usually advised to switch from heroin to methadone and wean themselves off the replacement drug, or to stay on it in the long term as a form of maintenance therapy.
The drug is not exclusively used to treat drug addiction, however, as it can also help people undergoing end of life care or dealing with severe pain.
The NHS warns that methadone can be extremely dangerous to children, as when ingested it could cause them “serious harm” or lead to their deaths. As little as a teaspoon of the drug, whether in liquid or pill form, could kill a young child, and any young person who swallows methadone must seek immediate emergency medical attention.
