Fatal injection of ranitidine: a case report

Antonio Oliva¹ , Sara Partemi¹ , Vincenzo Arena² , Fabio De Giorgio¹ , Catia Colecchi¹ , Nadia Fucci³ and Vincenzo L Pascali¹

¹Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Rome, Italy

²Institute of Pathology, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Rome, Italy

³Forensic Toxicology Laboratories, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Rome, Italy

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Medical Case Reports 2008, 2:232doi:10.1186/1752-1947-2-232


Published:	17 July 2008

Abstract

Introduction

Ranitidine hydrochloride (Zantac^®), a histamine-2-receptor antagonist, is a widely used medication with an excellent safety record. Anaphylactic reaction to ranitidine is an extremely rare event and a related death has never been described in the literature.

Case presentation

We present the clinical history, histological and toxicological data of a 51-year-old man with negative anamnesis for allergic events, who died suddenly after the intravenous administration of one phial of Zantac^®50 mg prescribed as a routine post-surgical prophylaxis for stress ulcer.

Conclusion

Although the incidence of anaphylactic reactions related to ranitidine is low, caution needs to be exercised on administration of this drug. In addition, further study is needed to define strategies for the prevention of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients.