INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (CN) - Parents claim their son died from diphenhydramine poisoning after four days' applications of "Benadryl Itch Stopping Cream," as directed. They sued Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson in Jackson County Court.
The parents say their son had a rash. "Plaintiffs applied no more than one dose of Benadryl per day to the affected areas on the decedent's body. More than half of the tube of Benadryl was left after the final application," the complaint states. "The Jackson County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death as probably acute diphenhydramine toxicity. The active ingredient in Benadryl is diphenhydramine."
The complaint adds: "The Benadryl was in a defective condition unreasonable dangerous when it was put to a reasonably anticipated use, in that it failed to instruct the user not to use the product for children under age two; it failed to warn the user not to use it in conjunction with other lotions; and it failed to warn the user regarding the appropriate dosage or quantity for children under age two."
The parents are represented by Kirk Presley with Monsees Miller & Mayer of Kansas City, Mo.
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