Two fatalities involving phenelzine

Phenelzine is a drug commonly used in the treatment of depression. Fatalities due to phenelzine have been infrequently reported in the medical literature. The authors report two cases in which phenelzine levels in blood at autopsy were 10-50 times greater than therapeutic levels. Although in both cases other drugs were present in elevated levels, the concentrations of phenelzine were so greatly elevated as to be considered as an independent cause of death.