Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor - Cultural References

Cultural References

• In the episode "The Late Shaft" of the TV detective drama Castle, Bobby Mann was taking an MAO inhibitor. His killer used this fact to trigger a negative interaction with the drug, leading to Bobby's death through what seemed to be a normal heart attack.

• In the episode "Cut" of Law & Order, a surgeon prescribes painkillers that interact with an MAOI a patient was taking, leading to her death.

• The pilot episode of Law and Order was similar to an actual event. Journalist Sidney Zion questioned the sudden death of his daughter Libby Zion at an ER room in Manhattan on Oct 4, 1984. The cause of death was attributed to "mysterious infection". The father convinced authorities to launch a criminal investigation when it was discovered that several medications, including Demerol, were administered to his daughter, reacting with her Nardil medications. The DA sought charges of murder against a doctor, which approved use of restraints and narcotics when Libby became increasingly agitated. The case prompted many reforms in graduate medical education and limiting number of hours staff can work. Drug abuse was successfully argued as a major factor leading to her death.

• In the film The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter mentions having consumed a victim's liver with "some fava beans and a nice chianti". Liver, fava beans, and wine all contain a substance called tyramine, which can cause a lethal interaction if you're also taking an MAO inhibitor. MAO inhibitors were the first antidepressant drugs developed, and were used primarily on patients in mental institutions. Lecter both worked in, and was committed to, a mental institution.