Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 17/99) - A recent toxicology report from an Edmonton medical examiner had suggested cough syrup as the cause of death of Hai Lee Lam, 35, a Yellowknife man who died of a lethal dose of an antihistamine.

The report detailed accounts of witnesses who saw Lam drinking Benylin DM, an over-the-counter cough syrup.

Citing the report, local coroner Percy Kinney said the report wrongly suggested the connection between Lam's death and the cough medicine, Benylin DM.

"Witnesses told us he was drinking this stuff (Benylin DM), we found a drug in (Lam's) body that is a common agent in over-the-counter medications," Kinney said.

The report listed the cough syrup Benylin DM as an example of medication that may have caused the overdose.

"It's a leap to say that's what killed him and that's not what we do here -- we deal in science."

Lam was seen drinking the medication, and suffered a seizure shortly afterward, Kinney said.

"We know he was taking Benylin DM -- we don't know that's what killed him," Kinney said. "Post-mortem toxicology revealed the presence of extremely high levels of diphenhydramine, which is an antihistamine, which is a component of several over-the-counter cough or cold medications."

The fatal level of the antihistamine was nearly 55 times what normal dosage levels should be, Kinney said.

"The concentration was 27.2 mg/l (milligrams per litre of blood) as compared to blood levels of less than .5 mg/l found in volunteers taking therapeutic amounts," Kinney said, citing the report.

Daryl Dolynny, Associate Pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart said the lethal dose may have come from sleeping pills.

"Diphenhydramine is present in a lot of sleeping aids, also in a lot of antihistamines, like Benydryl," he said. "Once it's metabolized in the body it could appear and it could be any number of those products."

He said that this type of drug is sometimes used by drug abusers to prolong or increase the effects of illegal drugs.

"Sometimes antihistamines are used to enhance a high if they are taking illicit drugs. I've seen that happen," he said.

The fatal dose in Lam's system was so high, that Dolynny said it must have come from something other than cough medication.

"If he ingested that much, my guess is that he ingested a sleeping aid, or a Gravol or something like that," Dolynny said. "I can't see cough syrup and any cocktail mixture even remotely causing major problems."

Pharmacist-Manager at Sutherland Drugs, Stephen Gwilliam agrees with Dolynny.

It has been years since diphenhydramine has been used in most cough syrups, he said.

"It's very unlikely that it would be cough medication," Gwilliam said. "There are no cough syrups that contain that medication (diphenhydramine), except one and that also has codeine in it."

Since no codeine was present in the deceased, the fatal drug more likely came from sleeping aids, Gwilliam said.

"Virtually all over-the-counter sleeping pills contain diphenhydramine," he said.