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Dear Listfriends, I got this message from another listserv, and thought it would be of interest to anyone using benztropine (Cogentin) or risperidone. Best, Kathrynne ************************************************ >Advisory labels sought on drugs > >Woman makes plea after brother dies from heat, medication mix > >By Vanessa Thomas >Toronto Star Staff Reporter > >A Burlington woman is making a desperate plea to have advisory labels put on >some drugs after her brother died from a lethal combination of summer heat >and prescription medication. > >Pat Overholt's 23-year-old brother, Tom, who had schizophrenia, was >unloading hay from a wagon on his uncle's 60-hectare farm in Ingersoll on a >hot day when he collapsed last July 15. > >The resident of St. Marys, Ont., was pronounced dead on arrival at the >hospital. > >An autopsy report said Tom Overholt died of heat stroke. > >But a coroner's investigation later ruled that two drugs he had been >prescribed - the antipsychotic drug risperidone and the anti-Parkinsonian >agent benztropine - interfered with his body's ability to regulate its >temperature, especially during extremely hot weather. > >``Anything I do won't bring him back, but I can't face another summer >without knowing that I've done something to prevent other deaths,'' Pat >Overholt said in an interview. > >Her brother had been doing well on the medication, which he took twice a day >for more than a year, she said. > >He was not warned about the negative effects of hot weather while taking his >medication, she said. > >The province's chief coroner's office has now advised physicians and medical >associations about the possible side effects. >The chief coroner's office issued a list of 47 drugs that have possible >heat-related side effects - all involving bladder control, Parkinson's >disease and psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. > >``It is rare, but in this type of weather it can occur more frequently,'' >said Dr. Bonnie Potter, deputy chief coroner. > >``We are advising the public to know what medication you're on, and if >you're not sure, discuss it with your doctor or pharmacist.'' >Overholt was one of two Ontario residents who died last summer from >prescription drugs mixed with extremely hot weather. > >A 66-year-old woman, taking two similar prescriptions, died in a nursing >home with faulty air conditioning. -- Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD Medical nutrition therapy Author: "Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease" "Parkinson's disease: assessing and managing unique nutrition needs" http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/