'She was just laying there, like lifeless' | Family recounts 7-year-old’s GLP-1 overdose as poison centers see spike in calls

Indiana Poison Center reports GLP-1 calls doubled last year. National Poison Data System, America’s Poison Centers reports a 1,500% increase in GLP-1 related calls.

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s just days before Christmas as medical workers wheel 7-year-old Jessa Milender through the halls of the hospital. The normally bubbly child is limp, face-down on a medical gurney. She’s being admitted after overdosing on her mother’s prescription GLP-1 medication.

“She couldn’t walk from exhaustion and severe pain,” Melissa Milender said. “She wouldn’t even allow them to touch her stomach. She’d scream out in pain in her sleep. It was awful.”

Poison centers nationwide are seeing a spike in calls about people taking too much GLP-1 medication. Research suggests the increase in patients being prescribed Ozempic, Mounjaro and other similar drugs is causing the rise in overdose reports.

The Indiana Poison Center tells 13 Investigates calls doubled from 2024 to 2025, with 320 calls in 2025. The local poison center says the majority of calls are about adult women, though a handful of those calls involve children and teens.

Doctors tell 13 Investigates most people can manage the symptoms at home. However, some end up in the hospital, like Jessa.

GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. The medications artificially create a hormone the human body naturally makes. That’s good for patients with diabetes because it allows their bodies to produce more insulin so they can better manage blood sugar.

The drugs also reduce hunger and make some people feel full longer, which can assist with weight loss.

There are several versions of GLP-1s currently in use, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, which are the active medication in popular brands including Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.

Jessa’s mother tells 13 Investigates Jessa was admitted to the hospital twice in one week in December 2024.

The family shared pictures of Jessa looking ashen, exhausted, in pain and hooked up to an IV.

“I don’t think we were prepared for how bad it was gonna get,” Melissa said.

Medical records show Jessa got hold of her mother’s Mounjaro around Dec. 16, 2024. Melissa says as soon as she learned the girl injected herself with the medication, she called Poison Control. Melissa followed instructions to keep the child at home and hydrated. She was told to expect Jessa to have symptoms including vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Hours after Jessa injected the medicine, she started vomiting.

“We weren’t expecting the severity,” Melissa said. “She would drink water and then throw right back up … I’m like, ‘How is she going to stay hydrated when she literally can’t keep anything down?’”

Jessa’s mother said she would vomit constantly.

“Seeing your child sick, even a normal sick, you wish you could take it away,” Melissa said. “But seeing them so sick for so long and feeling like no one really knows how to help. That’s a hopeless, helpless part that I wish on nobody.”

Records show Jessa was admitted overnight on Dec. 18 to Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, not far from the family’s home in San Bernardino, California. That was a couple of days after the girl took the medication. She received medication and an IV, then went home the next day.

“They were on the verge of if they should release us or not,” Melissa said. “I should have never let them release her.”

Jessa had a night of rest. Then, the vomiting returned on the next day. Melissa remembers her daughter was thirsty, but she could not keep water down. Jessa was so weak, her mother had to carry her to the bathroom.

Medical records state Jessa’s parents reported she was vomiting 10 to 15 times a day. So, back to the hospital — doctors admitted her again, and medical records show there were “concerns for renal shutdown.” Jessa had stopped urinating, and doctors worried about the health of her kidneys.

Melissa said at one point, Jessa was vomiting “brown chunks,” which doctors said could have been the girl’s stomach lining. The family reports around this time, they started to fear for Jessa’s life.

“On Saturday night is when we as a family gathered around her because she was just laying there, like lifeless,” Melissa said.

Two more days at the hospital, then doctors said Jessa was well enough to go home on Dec. 23, two days before Christmas. She made a full recovery.

Doctors say overdose symptoms typically last about a week because that’s how long the drug is meant to remain in the body. Now that millions of people have been prescribed GLP-1s, poison center calls are on the rise.

The National Poison Data System, America’s Poison Centers report GLP-1 overdose and side effect calls are up nearly 1,500% since 2019.

The Indiana Poison Center reports calls doubled in 2025. In 2022, the center reports receiving 64 calls, and in 2025, it received 320 calls. The center tells 13 Investigates 76% involve women, and the majority were due to accidental dosing errors. Most, 73%, did not result in a patient needing to go to a health care facility for care.

Dr. Mary Wermuth is a toxicologist at IU Health. She said there are probably more unreported cases, especially since people may call their doctors or simply deal with the symptoms themselves at home.

While overdose cases are up, calls involving children like Jessa are rare.

“The dosing errors we typically see are too frequent or inaccurate or too high of a dose,” Wermuth said.

Wermuth said some people take it too often, forgetting it’s a weekly medication.

Wermuth said other patients think taking a little extra might help them lose weight faster.

“More of a good thing is not always a good thing,” said Dr. Ethan Blocher-Smith at IU Health Fishers.

However, Wermuth and Blocher-Smith both agree the majority of people who take too much of the medication do it by accident. Mistakes are more common with compounded medications that may come with multiple doses in a single vial, requiring patients to measure out the proper amount. Many brand-name medications are now prefilled.

Overdose symptoms include nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal issues. Severe reactions can lead to dehydration and pancreatitis, which can land you in the hospital.

“Just because it’s thought to be used for weight loss, although there are other indications — diabetes and so forth, that doesn’t make it less toxic if you take it inappropriately,” Wermuth said.

“That medication is slowly time-releasing,” Blocher-Smith said. “That means the instant you injected it, you are dedicated to have that weeks’ worth of results, positive or negative. You get what you get.”

To avoid overdosing, the medical experts suggest people carefully read the instructions and ask their pharmacist to demonstrate how to take it properly.

They also encourage buying medication only from a reputable source. The doctors warn counterfeit medications can be dangerous because they are not regulated.

As for children, they suggest patients put their medication in a lockbox.

Melissa now has one for the compounded version of her tirzepatide.

Doctors say lockboxes are key to keeping these medications away from curious kids and teens.

“I got it the day she overdosed on it,” Melissa said. “It was $20 on Amazon, and it’s been in my fridge ever since.”

Back in 2024, Melissa thought putting the medication higher up in her refrigerator was enough. She’s still surprised Jessa decided to inject herself with the medicine.

“I thought it was stomach medicine,” Jessa said, “because my mom takes it, and I thought it helps her with her stomachaches.”

“She had seen her dad give me the first couple of injections,” Melissa said. “It goes in your stomach … but I never explained to her what I was doing … trying to get healthier.”