Quebec man's death prompts coroner's call to tighten controls on diphenhydramine sales

Sidhartha Banerjee · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 10, 2025 5:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

A Quebec coroner is recommending that diphenhydramine — an antihistamine and sedative sometimes utilized to slumber amended — should beryllium amended managed successful pharmacies aft the overdose decease of an 18-year-old antheral southbound of Montreal successful December 2023.

The young man, whose individuality is not revealed successful the study made public, died of acute diphenhydramine poisoning astatine his location successful St-Mathias-sur-Richelieu.

On the greeting of Dec. 11, 2023, the antheral was recovered by his parent successful his bed, unconscious and laying connected his back.

Toxicological investigation recovered the antheral had a lethal level of diphenhydramine successful his blood.

The cause is the sedating constituent successful immoderate over-the-counter antihistamines including the marque Benadryl, among others.

The coroner recovered the circumstances surrounding the decease rise questions astir the uncontrolled availability of a perchance lethal over-the-counter substance. He noted determination is statement astir the risks of poisoning among technological bodies, but it's not stored down the counter.

"I cannot recognize wherefore the merchantability of diphenhydramine ... is not amended controlled," coroner Vincent Denault wrote. "I can't recognize wherefore diphenhydramine is disposable implicit the counter, particularly since Gravol, which besides contains diphenhydramine, isn't available."

In a study dated from precocious April but released this week, the coroner wrote the man's decease is attributed to the acute toxicity of diphenhydramine, a cardinal tense strategy depressant which if consumed successful capable quantities causes fatal respiratory slump and irregular heartbeat, which tin pb to fatal cardiac arrhythmias.

The coroner noted determination were antecedently utilized bare jars and blister packs of diphenhydramine tablets successful the man's bedroom.

"Was helium taking them to slumber better? Could helium person taken pills successful the aforesaid way, but successful larger quantities, during the nighttime of December 10-11, 2023?" the coroner asked.

Denault noted it wasn't the archetypal clip deaths person occurred owed to the drug. The coroner has already weighed successful connected three
erstwhile Quebec investigations.

There was an uptick around 2020 aft the alleged Benadryl TikTok situation connected societal media invited users to devour ample quantities of medicine tablets containing diphenhydramine.

"The deaths of children person enactment a look to this unsafe trend," Denault wrote. "The technological lit confirms that diphenhydramine is consumed successful precocious doses for its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects, and that radical person utilized it to perpetrate suicide."

Denault's proposal was for the provincial bureau of professions to instrumentality steps to amend regulations involving the merchantability of medicinal products, to classify diphenhydramine intended for oral medication successful a conception that requires much absorption by pharmacists.

That absorption would see creating a file, noting the merchantability and carrying retired a pharmacological survey of the file.

Denault besides asked the coroner's bureau to stock the study with the Collège des médecins du Québec — the province's College of Physicians — and the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec, the assemblage that oversees pharmacists successful the province.

Jean-François Desgagné, president of the pharmacists' order, said this week the bid would reappraisal the coroner's proposal to reclassify the cause to measure the appropriateness of moving it down the pharmacist's counter.

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