@article{ref1,
title="Heroin-related deaths from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office from 2004 through 2015",
journal="Journal of forensic sciences",
year="2018",
author="Love, Sara A. and Lelinski, Jessica and Kloss, Julie and Middleton, Owen and Apple, Fred S.",
volume="63",
number="1",
pages="191-194",
abstract="Over the past two decades, prescription and illicit opioid use has led to changes in public health policy to address the increasing number of opioid-related deaths. The purpose of this study was to review cases from Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office between 2004 through 2015 where heroin was listed as a significant contributor or as the cause of death. We identified 322 heroin-related deaths, which were predominantly male (255; 79%). 6-Monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) median (range) concentrations were as follows: blood (n = 7), 0.010 (0.006-0.078) mg/L; urine (n = 30), 0.359 (0.009-1.75) mg/L; and vitreous humor (n = 31), 0.034 (0.004-0.24) mg/L. Free morphine was measurable in 273 cases and the percent free morphine (range), when grouped by COD, was opioid (n = 124), 28% (2.2%-92%), and mixed drug toxicity (n = 135), 35.3% (1.5%-100%); (p < 0.01). Quantitation of 6-MAM in blood and vitreous humor, along with a free to total morphine ratio >26%, was useful in establishing heroin-related deaths.<br><br>© 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-1198",
doi="10.1111/1556-4029.13511",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13511"
}