Citation

Meatherall RC. J. Forensic Sci. 1997; 42(2): 340-343.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9068198

Abstract

The death of a 72-year-old man is described who overdosed himself while in hospital. The man was being treated for lung cancer and ingested 90 mg of zopiclone in a suicide attempt. He died between 4 and 10 h after the ingestion. Zopiclone, quantitated by GC-MS in the femoral blood, cardiac blood, vitreous humor, urine and bile was found to be 254, 408, 94, 7,330, and 114,700 ng/mL, respectively. Considering the man's weakened physical condition, 90 mg could represent a minimum lethal zopiclone dose.

Language: en

Keywords

Aged; Azabicyclo Compounds; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives; Male; Patient Admission; Piperazines; Suicide