Methaqualone Poisoning with Muscular Hyperactivity Necessitating the Use of Curare

Methaqualone, a relatively new sedative hypnotic drug in the United States, has unique properties which make the handling of overdosage somewhat different from the standard procedures. We report the case of a 20-year-old woman who ingested a large quantity of the drug and required curarization and artificial ventilation during the course of her recovery. The paper recounts the details of this treatment and reviews available literature on principles of therapy for methaqualone overdose.