AN INTOXICATION INVOLVING BRON(TM) AND VERAPAMIL

A case is presented in which the body of a 19-year-old white male was found in his family's quarters by his mother. An autopsy failed to determine the cause of death, and specimens were sent out for toxicologic analysis. No ethanol or volatile substances were detected in the blood, urine, or vitreous fluid. Comprehensive drug testing of the urine identified chlorpheniramine, dihydrocodeine, methylephedrine, salicylate, and verapamil. The first three drugs listed appear together in an over-the-counter cold medication in Japan, under the trade name BRON™. Blood quantitations (in mg/L) were as follows: Chlorpheniramine, 2.6; dihydrocodeine, 4.7; methylephedrine, 5.6; salicylate, 150; and verapamil, 6.0. The cause of death was multiple drug intoxication, and the manner of death was suicide. © 1993 Oxford University Press.