Brompton cocktail

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Brompton cocktail is an elixir made from morphine or heroin, cocaine, highly-pure ethyl alcohol, and sometimes chlorpromazine (Thorazine) given to terminally-ill individuals, especially cancer patients, to relieve pain and promote sociability near death. Typical dosing woud include 10 mg each of the morphine and cocaine elements. Brompton's mixtures did, however, come in a range of doses and combinations. Notably, these mixtures were used for pain prophylaxis -- that is, Brompton's mixture would be used to prevent pain from surfacing rather than treat a specific incidence of pain. The Brompton cocktail is named after the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England. While its use is rare in the 21st century, it is not unheard of. It was far more common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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