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Barbara S. Koppel, MD; Cynthia L. Harden, MD; Michael Daras, MD
New York Medical College and Metropolitan Hospital Center New York, NY 10032

Arch Neurol. 1991;48(8):789.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—Allergies to drugs are usually caused by the active ingredient. However, inert excipients (coloring agents, preservatives, and sweeteners) may also sometimes cause allergic reactions.^1-4 The incidence of these may be increasing, because excipients are now usually chemically produced synthetics, not naturally derived substances. We report a patient with epilepsy who developed sensitivity to FD&C Red 40 in the Tegretol brand of carbamazepine.

Report of a Case.

—A 56-year-old woman had had frequent complex partial and rare secondarily generalized seizures for 5 years. Control was poor with therapeutic plasma levels of phenytoin, primidone, and phenobarbital. Treatment with the Tegretol brand of carbamazepine (Ciba-Geigy) was started, and other drugs were withdrawn. Four weeks later, she complained of rhinorrhea, tearing, and nasal stuffiness that consistently occurred within 20 minutes after ingesting a Tegretol tablet. Generic carbamazepine (a white tablet made by Bioline MAF) was substituted at the same dose, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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