TY - JOUR PY - 2012// TI - Ecstasy and Suicide JO - Journal of forensic sciences A1 - Fernando, Tarini A1 - Gilbert, John D. A1 - Carroll, Christine M. A1 - Byard, Roger W. SP - 1137 EP - 1139 VL - 57 IS - 4 N2 - Deaths due to the ring-derivative amphetamines are not common and are usually accidental involving dehydration and hyperthermia. Suicides from 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and related ring-derivative amphetamines overdose are rare. A 15-year-old female who had a history of depression and previous suicide attempts was found dead with a suicide note. Toxicology demonstrated lethal serum concentrations of MDMA (9.3 mg/L), with 34 mg/kg of MDMA in the liver, 2.4 mg/L in the urine, and 530 mg/kg in the stomach. The cause of death was MDMA toxicity, the manner suicide. While MDMA may be detected in victims in other drug-related or traumatic deaths, it is only rarely used in isolation in suicide, with a predominance in the 21- to 25-year-old range. Despite the rarity of such events, the possibility of a nonaccidental manner of death should be considered when high levels of MDMA and associated amphetamines are found at autopsy.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0022-1198 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2012.02107.x ID - ref1 ER -