Certain problems arise in cases of multiple drug accidental poisoning which are not encountered with single drug ingestion.
An illustrative case was a 3-year-old male who ingested 6 anorexigenic ("obesity") tablets of the sustained action variety, each containing 15 mg methamphetamine and 60 mg phenobarbital. Gastric lavage was performed 3 hours later and some pink material removed.
At this time the child exhibited hyperexcitability and hyperkinesia indicating a predominance of amphetamine effect. He was given 0.1 gm sodium phenobarbital s.c. (a short-acting barbiturate would have been a better choice), quieted, and went to sleep in 20 minutes. An intravenous infusion of 500 ml 10% dextrose in water was then started and the child made a subsequent uneventful recovery.