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(26.09.2025) Current case of poisoning: Life-threatening mix-up with online tablets. They contained cyclorphine instead of benzodiazepine. Experts warn of poisoning.

An interdisciplinary team of toxicologists from the Institute of Forensic Medicine and physicians from the Poisoning Information Center at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg has investigated a serious case of poisoning in which the ingestion of a tablet from the Internet almost ended fatally. Instead of the expected benzodiazepine prodrug, the tablet was found to contain the highly effective synthetic opioid cyclorphine. The person concerned had to be treated in intensive care.

Signs of a worrying development

"We identified cyclorphine in the examined tablet - a potent opioid that, unlike benzodiazepines, can lead to life-threatening conditions even at low doses," says Prof. Dr. Volker Auwärter, Head of Forensic Toxicology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. "We see this case as a sign of a worrying development. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in fatal incidents involving synthetic opioids in Germany."

Danger to life due to misleading labeling

The tablets in question were contained in a transparent zip bag labeled "Alprazolam Triazolobenzophenone Pellets I 1 mg". According to the declaration, they were supposed to contain a prodrug of the benzodiazepine alprazolam, which is sold in Switzerland and the USA under the trade name Xanax and is known for its high addictive potential. Instead, the tablets were found to contain cyclorphine - an active ingredient that, unlike the chemically and structurally related opioid brorphine, is not yet legally regulated. Similar to fentanyl, which has been responsible for a high number of drug-related deaths for many years, particularly in the USA, this active ingredient can be life-threatening even in very small quantities.

Appeal for rapid implementation of legally possible "drug checking"

The current case is an example of a growing problem: deaths involving the consumption of falsely declared substances have also been investigated at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg in the recent past. Against this backdrop, the experts are renewing their appeal for the rapid implementation of the legally possible "drug checking" in Baden-Württemberg. Although the Narcotics Act has already been amended at federal level, several federal states - including Baden-Württemberg - still lack the necessary state ordinance for implementation.

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