An 11-month-old boy in Japan was referred to a hospital for one reason: his tongue was blue. His family said they had found nothing blue anywhere near him when they noticed it. On examination, he was also slightly less alert than normal.
That combination led pediatricians at Tokushima Red Cross Hospital to suspect benzodiazepine poisoning, and a rapid urine drug test detected the drug class. Their case report, published in Case Reports in Pediatrics in September 2025, adds to a small set of Japanese reports in which a coloring agent meant to protect people from drugged drinks gave doctors a visible clue to a hidden poisoning.
