Middle School Students Sickened By Prescription Drugs, District Says

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA - Ten to eleven children at McFadden Middle School in Santa Ana, Orange County reported feeling ill Monday and were transported to an area hospital for examination. According to the district, prescription drugs were the cause.

On Tuesday, all of those who were transported to area hospitals — 9 girls and two boys from 11- to 14-years-old have— been released according to OC Register reports, and many are back in campus for class.

Deidra Powell, a spokeswoman for Santa Ana Unified School District, said in a statement to the OC Register that the students took Xanax pills, an anti-anxiety medication.

Authorities believed a student gave the drug to others, Powell said.

According to the OC Register, a district registered nurse, Nohemi Ahmador discussed the events of the day, as the nurse on campus who assessed the students prior to calling paramedics.

“The first (student) was very lethargic. Some of the others were just out of it,” Amador said. As many as 11 students have been reported as possibly ingesting the drug.

Side effects of Xanax include lethargy, irritability, blurred vision, headache, memory problems, lack of focus, slurred speech, confusion and dizziness according to Narconon.org.

Paramedics were sent to the campus in the 2700 block of Raitt Street about 12:15 p.m., said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.

The children showed signs of "lethargy," possibly from ingesting an unknown substance, but none suffered a life-threatening injury, Kurtz said.

The case was being investigated by officers from the Santa Ana Unified School District, Kurtz said.

McFadden's Principal Ignacio Muniz stated that the parents of the affected students were notified right away, and that all parents were informed by robocall message a short time later.

The message sated that "some students may have ingested something handed to them by a classmate," parents said.

Whether or not the students will receive disciplinary action remains unclear, however according to the SAUSD, teachers will be instructed to remind students about the dangers of drugs.

"We definitely want (parents) to talk to their child about why they did that," Powell told the OC Register. "These things are very serious and it's important that we get (the students) help."

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