Salbutamol, rather than asthma, was the culprit behind one man’s respiratory distress, in a case doctors say serves as a reminder of the risks of overusing the asthma medication.

Lactic acidosis induced by excessive salbutamol use was ultimately found to be responsible for the 42-year-old’s transitory respiratory failure, report doctors from the Mohamed V Military Training Hospital in Rabat, Morocco.

The man was admitted to the hospital’s ED with a three-day history of runny nose, shortness of breath and wheezing.

There was marked use of the accessory muscles of respiration, he was unable to speak in complete sentences, was afebrile, conscious but agitated, had a respiratory rate of 45 breaths per minute, a pulse of 130bpm and had an oxygen saturation of 91% on room air.