Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

We present an unusual cause of respiratory arrest resulting from sole ingestion of home-brewed opium tea. A 64-year-old woman was found unresponsive and in respiratory arrest by a first responder. There were no obvious signs of regular recreational drug use. On presentation to the local district general hospital, the patient was in extremis, with severe physiological and biochemical derangements. A naloxone infusion was commenced and she later made a good recovery. It was subsequently discovered that she had brewed opium tea from opium buds she had picked from a nearby commercial poppy farm, a practice she had learnt while in Afghanistan.

Original publication

DOI

10.1136/bcr-2016-218971

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMJ Case Rep

Publication Date

28/04/2017

Volume

2017

Keywords

Drug misuse (including addiction), Emergency medicine, Poisoning, Prehospital, Toxicology, Administration, Intravenous, Afghanistan, Coma, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Naloxone, Narcotic Antagonists, Opioid-Related Disorders, Opium, Tea, Treatment Outcome