Citation

McIntyre IM, Mallett P, Stolberg S, Haas EA, Mena O. Aust. J. Forensic Sci. 2016; 48(1): 37-41.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00450618.2015.1025839

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Toxicology testing revealed dramatic increases in whole-blood concentrations of verapamil and diphenhydramine in the short time between hospital admission and death (53 min) in a subject (with a history of overdosing) found unresponsive. While some degree of post-mortem redistribution (PMR) would be expected for the drugs found in this case, PMR cannot explain the considerable increases observed. It is recommended that in potential overdose cases without a clear manner of death but for which ante-mortem and post-mortem specimens (including gastric content) are available, all should be analysed and considered in order to make a more definitive conclusion regarding that death.

Language: en