Quebec Coroner calls for tougher control persons via diphenhydramine sales after the 2023 death

Montreal-a forensic doctor in Quebec recommends that diphenhydramine-one antihistamine and sedative, which is sometimes used for sleeping-should be better managed in pharmacies according to the overdose death of an 18-year-old man south of Montreal in December 2023.

The young man, whose identity is not revealed in the report made by the public, died of acute diphenhydramine poisoning in his house in St-Mathias-sur-Richelieu.

On the morning of December 11, 2023, the man was found in his bed by his mother, passed out and lay on his back. The toxicological analysis showed that the man had a fatal mirror of diphenhydramine in the blood.

The drug is the calming part of some over -the -counter antihistamines, including the Benadryl brand.

The forensic doctor found that the circumstances of death raise questions about the uncontrolled availability of a potentially fatal over -the -counter substance. He noticed that there was a consensus about the risks of the poisoning between the scientific body, but it is not saved behind the counter.

“I can't understand why the sale of diphenhydramine … is not better controlled,” wrote the forensic doctor Vincent Denault. “I cannot understand why diphenhydramine is available via the counter, especially since Gravol, which also contains diphenhydramine, is not available.”

In a report from the end of April, which was published this week, the forensic doctor wrote that the death of the man is due to the acute toxicity of diphenhydramine, a depression of the central nervous system, which, if it is consumed in sufficient sizes, can lead to fatal respiratory depression and irregular heartbeat, which can lead to fatal cardiac arrhythythmia.

The forensic doctor found that empty glasses and bladder packs were previously used in diphenhydramine tablets in the man's bedroom.

“Has he better brought her to sleep? Could he have taken in larger quantities in the night of December 10th to 11th, 2023 in the night of December 10th to 11th, 2023?” Asked the forensic doctor.

Denault noted that it had not occurred for the first time due to the drug. The forensic doctor has already initiated three earlier examinations by Quebec.

In 2020 there was an increase after the so -called Benadryl Tiktok Challenge invited users to consume large amounts of medication tablets that contain diphenhydramine on social media.

“The death of children has a face to this dangerous trend,” Denault wrote. “Scientific literature confirms that diphenhydramine in high doses is consumed for its euphoric and hallucinogenic effects and that people have used them to commit suicide.”

The recommendation of Denault was that the Provincial Office of Professional steps to change regulations in connection with medical products and to classify diphenhydramine for oral administration in a section for which more management by pharmacists is necessary to classify.

This management would include creating a file that determines the sale and carry out a pharmacological examination of the file.

Denault also asked the forensic doctor's office to share the report with the Collège des Médecins du Québec – the College of Physicians of the province – and the order of the pharmacia du Québec, the body that supervises the pharmacists in the province.

Jean-François Desgagné, President of the Order of the Pharmacists, said that the order would check the recommendation of the forensic doctor to re-classify the medication in order to assess the appropriateness behind the pharmacist's meter.

This report by Canadian Press was first published on May 10, 2025.

Sidhartha Banerjee, the Canadian press