CF4 4XN and 'Wyeth Research (UK), Taplow, Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK 1 The respiratory and psychomotor effects of a single oral dose of meptazinol (200 mg) and dextropropoxyphene (65 mg)/paracetamol (650 mg) mixture, was compared alone and in combination with ethanol (0.8 g kg-').2 Peak saccade velocity following meptazinol or the dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol mixture was not significantly different from placebo. When each of the treatments was followed by ethanol administration, a significant decrease in saccade velocity (P < 0.01) was seen. 3 Given alone, neither of the analgesic drugs produced a significant change in the slope of the ventilatory response to hypercapnia. Ethanol did not affect the ventilatory response to hypercapnia when given alone or in combination with meptazinol, but when given with the dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol mixture, a significant reduction in the slope of the ventilatory response to hypercapnia occurred at 1.5 h (P < 0.05) and 2 h (P < 0.01) after administration of the analgesic drug. 4 No pharmacokinetic interaction was demonstrated between ethanol and meptazinol or the dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol mixture in the doses used. 5 In contrast to meptazinol, the dextropropoxyphene/paracetamol mixture interacts with ethanol on the ventilatory function.

Mefenamic acid 500 mg orally was administered to nine healthy volunteers on four occasions 7 days apart. On two occasions allocated at random, activated charcoal (2.5 g of medicoal) was administered 1 h after the drug. Hyoscine butylbromide (20 mg intramuscularly) was given immediately after mefenamic acid on one of these occasions, and on one occasion after mefenamic acid without charcoal. Hyoscine significantly delayed the time to maximum mefenamic acid concentrations but did not affect the area under the plasma concentration-time curve. Charcoal reduced the area under the plasma concentration curve by 36% and charcoal and hyoscine reduced the area under the plasma concentration curve by 42% from their respective control values. We conclude that early charcoal administration in a ratio of 5 g to 1 g of drug effectively reduces the area under the plasma concentration-time curve after oral mefenamic acid administration. Early charcoal administration may be of value therefore in reducing the toxicity of mefenamic acid after deliberate or accidental overdosage.

The risk of precipitating a convulsion in epileptic patients with methohexitone has been judged to vary widely. This article reports such complications arising during methohexitoneactivated E.E.G. recording in a series of 48 epileptic patients from whom anticonvulsant medication was 'i.£,ithheld. Two patients developed grand mal convulsions during induction with methohexitone 1· 0%. Two others exhibited status epilepticus of the petit mal type and one of the myoclonic type, after stopping an infusion of 0 ·09% methohexitone. The specijicity for methohexitone-induced convulsions in epileptics or crypto-epileptics is supported by a review of the literature.