Aconite poisoning in camouflage

WT Poon, CK Lai, CK Ching, KY Tse, YC So, YC Chan, LM Hau, TWL Mak, AYW Chan
Hospital Authority Toxicology Reference Laboratory, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong

The Toxicology Reference Laboratory has confirmed 10 cases of aconite poisoning from March 2004 to May 2006. In four of these 10 cases, the aconite herb was not listed in the written prescription. We report these four cases to highlight the problem of �hidden� aconite poisoning.

Hong Kong Med J 2006;12:456-9

Key words: Aconitum; Drugs, Chinese herbal; Poisoning