An accidental case of aconite poisoning due to Kampo herbal medicine ingestion

✍ Scribed by Takiyoshi Ono; Makiko Hayashida; Kyoko Uekusa; Cui Fan Lai; Hideyuki Hayakawa; Makoto Nihira; Youkichi Ohno

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 205 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1344-6223
• DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2008.11.001

✦ Synopsis

An accidental case of aconite intoxication occurred after a patient took a therapeutic dose of Kampo herbal medicine containing Aconiti tuber, Uzu but had used the wrong decoction procedure. The poisoning was likely caused by an increased level of Aconitum alkaloids in the decoction; the patient developed aconite intoxication due to incomplete decoction. Aconitum alkaloid levels in the leftover solution which the patient had drunk and in the decoction extracted from 3g Uzu were determined. It was found that decoction makes the medicine safer to drink. Older individuals, especially those with dementia, have a higher risk of aconite poisoning because they sometimes do not boil the medicine appropriately.