Possible link of loratadine with a fatal outcome in an at-risk patient

A 69-year-old man, who has been clinically chronic for severe and persistent mental illness, COPD, diabetes and hypothyroidism, stabilized for several months, began treatment with loratadine for rhinitis. The next day he is found unconscious and rushed to the general hospital for intensive care, where he dies a day later. The case analysis reveals a possible “butterfly effect,” a fatal outcome caused by a low-risk drug, given the “borderline” situation of prior therapy.