Quick Onset of Severe Abdominal Pain After Codeine in an Ultrarapid Metabolizer of Debrisoquine

The authors describe a 33-year-old woman who experienced severe pain in the epigastrium after codeine intake. This side-effect is consistent with that of morphine. Later, the patient was phenotyped and genotyped as an ultrarapid metabolizer with high capacity to metabolize codeine to morphine.