The recent increase in reports of drug-facilitated sexual assaults has caused alarm in the general public and prompted forensic toxicologists from across North America to address the toxicological issues surrounding this matter. The authors have developed recommendations and guidelines to inform law enforcement, medical, and scientific personnel of the requirements for performing successful toxicological examinations in cases of drug-facilitated rape.
A gas-liquid chromatographic method for the determination of gabapentin (Neurontin) is described. The method involves extracting 0.5 mL of acidified sample by C18 solid-phase column, derivatization with MTBSTFA plus 1% tBDMCS, and analysis on an HP-1 column with a flame-ionization detector. Quantitation was performed with peak-height ratios of gabapentin to a gabapentin analogue [(1-aminomethyl-1-cycloheptyl) acetic acid] as the internal standard. The assay had a limit of detection of 0.2 mg/L and a linear range from 0.5 to 30.0 mg/L. Several compounds were analyzed for potential interference, and none interfered with the assay.
A three-year-old child died after ingestion of a mouthful of an estimated 44% sodium arsenite solution. Litigation was initiated based on the quality of emergency treatment at a rural hospital. An issue raised in litigation was whether the child could have survived if he had received an additional dose of BAL (dimercaprol). BAL had been sent for from a neighboring city and arrived approximately 2.0 h after admission. The first 50-mg dose of BAL could have combined with a maximum of 30 mg arsenic; a second dose could have brought the total of chelated arsenic to 60 mg. To determine the total body burden of arsenic in the child, multiple tissues were analyzed. The total body burden was estimated at 113 mg, with 100 mg of this total attributable to the ingested solution. The actual body burden after two doses of BAL therefore would have been at least 40 mg, a fatal level.
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