An eight-year-old girl, J.M., has been seen in our practice on
several occasions over the last six years for mild recurrent
bronchospasm; she received intermittent salbutamol and antibiotics
for this complaint. She also suffers from very mild
eczema, for which she receives no treatment.
On 2 November 1979, she developed a cough at night and
was prescribed Dimotapp elixir 5 ml nocte. The Dimotapp
was only partly effective in suppressing this cough and was
increased to 10 ml nocte on 26 May 1980. Immediately after
the Dimotapp had been increased, she began to suffer from
increasingly severe episodes of spasmodic torticollis, culminating
in an oculogyric crisis on 24 July. She had received one
dose of haloperidol (1* 5 mg) on 23 July. After stopping the
Dimotapp elixir and the haloperidol, she has experienced no