Warning on Benadryl ointment after folks swallow it

Some self-treating sufferers of itchy skin have swallowed globs of over-the-counter Benadryl gel - a topical ointment - and wound up in emergency rooms, prompting a federal safety warning Thursday and changes to the medication's label.

As stated on its current label, Benadryl Extra Strength Itch-Stopping Gel is for external use only - to be applied to the skin. But some people have been swallowing the gel, possibly mistaking it for other Benadryl products that can be taken internally, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some who've swigged the gel have been admitted to intensive care units. Between 2001 and 2009, 121 cases of ingestion of Benadryl Extra Strength Itch Relief Gel were reported to the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson.

Yet no change to the product's label has been made until now. "We cannot comment on [the] exact reasons why consumers were mistakenly ingesting the product," said James Freeman, Johnson & Johnson spokesman.

The number of those sickened could be significantly higher, experts said Thursday, because not everyone who is made ill by a medication reports the incident to the manufacturer.

Dr. Michael McGuigan, medical director of the Long Island Regional Poison Center at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, said all Benadryl products are antihistamines and their active ingredient is diphenhydramine.

While he has no reports of anyone locally being sickened by the gel, McGuigan said his center has received numerous reports over the years of people accidentally or purposely consuming other brands of antihistamines.

"Sometimes teenagers will take it to try to get high," McGuigan said. But he warns when misused, diphenhydramine can have powerful side effects, leading to convulsions and/or irregular heartbeats.

Other reports of antihistamine poisoning received at his center involve children. "A lot of times, young children under 5 or 6 will see a bottle that's brightly colored and will take a swig," McGuigan said.

Dr. Gary Greenwald, associate director of emergency medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, said he has not treated patients who have swallowed the gel. But those who have consumed it, he noted, may have done so because the packaging looks similar to Benadryl liquid, an over-the-counter drug for internal use.