Name:  Nikethamide

Molecular Structure:  

Molecular Formula:  C₁₀H₁₄N₂O 

Molecular Weight:  178.23

CAS Number:  59-26-7

EINECS:  200-418-5

 

Nikethamide is a stimulant which mainly affects the respiratory cycle. Nikethamide was formerly used under the brand name "Coramine" in the mid-1900s as a medical countermeasure towards tranquilizer overdoses, before the advent of endotracheal intubation & positive-pressure lung expansion. Nikethamide was used for this purpose by suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams when treating patient Gertrude Hullett, who he was suspected of murdering. In alternate terminology, Nikethamide is known as nicotinic acid diethylamide, which meaningfully emphasizes its laboratory origins, as well as the phonemes of its common name.

In sports, nikethamide is listed by the World Anti-Doping Agency as a banned substance. Cyclist Jaime Huelamo was caught at the 1972 Summer Olympics using it. When it was discovered that American sprinter and world champion Torri Edwards had used nikethamide, she was banned for two years. In 2005, however, WADA downgraded nikethamide so that one would only receive a maximum one-year ban. Official sources have stated that former Russian ice hockey player Alexei Cherepanov had been taking nikethamide and that it had been taken 3 hours prior to the game in which he died.