In the film Winchester (2018), Doctor Eric Price is addicted to laudanum due to his wifes suicide. In the novel Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, the eponymous character becomes addicted to laudanum before committing suicide by jumping under a train. In the horror video-game Amnesia: Rebirth (2020), laudanum can be found scarcely, and can be used to decrease the player characters fear. In the Netflix adaptation of Julia Quinns novels Bridgerton (2020), when Baron Featherington, the Featherington patriarch is ambushed by gambling bookies, a bottle of laudanum poison is shown on the table and later the family learns of his off-screen death, presumably murdered. In the book series All the Wrong Questions (2012–15) by Daniel Handler, Who Could That Be at This Hour? (2012) Lemony Snickets tea had laudanum. Laudanum is mentioned and used throughout the series, mostly by The Inhuman society. It plays a major role in the plot of James Clavells historical novel Gai-Jin.
Misinterpretation of "DTO"
The abbreviation "DTO," traditionally used to refer to Deodorized Tincture of Opium, is sometimes also erroneously employed to abbreviate "diluted tincture of opium." Diluted tincture of opium, also known as Camphorated Tincture of Opium (Paregoric) is a 1:25 mixture of opium tincture to water prescribed to treat withdrawal symptoms in newborns whose mothers were using opioids while pregnant. The United States Pharmacopeia and FDA recommend that practitioners refrain from using DTO in prescriptions, given this potential for confusion. In cases where pharmacists have misinterpreted DTO, and given "deodorized tincture of opium" when "diluted tincture of opium" was meant, infants have received a massive 25-fold overdose of morphine, sometimes resulting in fatalities. Side effects
Side effects of laudanum are generally the same as with morphine, and include euphoria, dysphoria, pruritus, sedation, constipation, reduced tidal volume, respiratory depression, as well as psychological dependence, physical dependence, miosis, and xerostomia. Overdose can result in severe respiratory depression or collapse and death. The ethanol component can also induce adverse effects at higher doses; the side effects are the same as with alcohol. Long-term use of laudanum in nonterminal diseases is discouraged due to the possibility of drug tolerance and addiction. Long-term use can also lead to abnormal liver function tests; specifically, prolonged morphine use can increase ALT and AST blood serum levels. Treatment for overdose
Life-threatening overdose of opium tincture owes to the preparations morphine content. Morphine produces a dose-dependent depressive effect on the respiratory system, which can lead to profound respiratory depression, hypoxia, coma and finally respiratory arrest and death.