Overdose of risperidone may make it difficult for a child to breathe.

In the US risperidone may be prescribed to treat behavior problems in children with autism. In the UK, risperidone is not approved for use in children and, therefore, a child using risperidone has to have it prescribed "off-label." This case study describes a 10-year-old boy with mild developmental delay who took ten times more risperidone than he should have been taking. The mistake seemed to have happened because the boy was given a pipette that was made to give the correct dose to an adult, not a child. The dosage was toxic and the boy stopped breathing. The authors point out that 6-8% of white patients take a long time to clear risperidone from their bodies and this may make adverse events more common with risperidone.