Citation

Patel F. Med. Sci. Law 1992; 32(2): 151-159.

Affiliation

Guy's Medical School (University of London), England.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, British Academy of Forensic Sciences, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1614300

Abstract

The inconspicuous number of cases of self-induced hyperinsulinaemia reported in the literature may suggest that many are obscure enough to escape their detection. A case of fatal suicidal hyperinsulinaemia in a non-diabetic is reported here, and in whom only a retrospective biochemical analysis provided an explanatory cause of death. A quantitative radioimmuno assay (RIA) estimation of the refrigerated postmortem blood sample stored at 4 degrees C for three weeks gave a positive insulin yield. It reiterates the need, in forensic cases, for a very low threshold of suspicion and a good back-up for the appropriate body fluid analysis or tissue microexamination, especially when full details of the circumstances surrounding the death are not available at the autopsy. A brief résumé on insulin is presented as a background to the current forensic interest in the apparent increase in sudden deaths in young diabetics amidst the controversy about the bio-designed 'human' insulin and subjective unawareness of severe hypoglycaemia.

Language: en