Which agent is associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure and hypotension?

• A. Oxygen
• B. Morphine
• C. Nitroglycerin
• D. Albuterol

Answer: (B)

Opioid medications slow the brain’s breathing drive and blunt the response to rising CO2, which can lead to respiratory failure, especially at higher doses or with other depressants. They also cause vasodilation and can lower blood pressure. This combination—dangerous respiratory depression plus hypotension—makes morphine the agent most associated with both risks. The other options don’t link to this dual problem: oxygen supports breathing, nitroglycerin can lower blood pressure but doesn’t typically depress respiration, and albuterol is a bronchodilator that can raise heart rate rather than cause respiratory failure or hypotension in usual use.