Intentional heroin administration resulting in homicide in a 10-month old infant

Paul, Anthea B. Mahesan; Simms, Lary; Mahesan, Althea M.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.06.035

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…In cases where violence was attributed to heroin, it was considered indirect and not related to the effect of heroin ingestion; for example, it can arise from actions performed to obtain money for purchasing drugs [ 74 ]. A direct effect of heroin on homicide can be expected in the case of injecting or spiking heroin to sedate a victim because the dose may be higher than the victim can tolerate, or the user may be naive [ 74 , 75 , 76 ]. In addition, homicide deaths can occur between drug dealers, and violence also occurs between dealers and users [ 13 , 35 , 74 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heroin-Related Fatalities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between 2008 and 2018

Al-Asmari

Alharbi

Al-Zahrani

et al. 2023

Toxics

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To date, epidemiological studies have not evaluated heroin-related deaths in the Middle East and North African regions, especially Saudi Arabia. All heroin-related postmortem cases reported at the Jeddah Poison Control Center (JPCC) over a 10-year period (21 January 2008 to 31 July 2018) were reviewed. In addition, liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS) was utilized to determine the 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM), 6-acetylcodeine (6-AC), morphine (MOR), and codeine contents in unhydrolyzed postmortem specimens. Ninety-seven heroin-related deaths were assessed in this study, and they represented 2% of the total postmortem cases at the JPCC (median age, 38; 98% male). In the blood, urine, vitreous humor, and bile samples, the median morphine concentrations were 280 ng/mL, 1400 ng/mL, 90 ng/mL, and 2200 ng/mL, respectively; 6-MAM was detected in 60%, 100%, 99%, and 59% of the samples, respectively; and 6-AC was detected in 24%, 68%, 50%, and 30% of the samples, respectively. The highest number of deaths (33% of total cases) was observed in the 21–30 age group. In addition, 61% of cases were classified as “rapid deaths,” while 24% were classified as “delayed deaths.” The majority (76%) of deaths were accidental; 7% were from suicide; 5% were from homicide; and 11% were undetermined. This is the first epidemiological study to investigate heroin-related fatalities in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North African region. The rate of heroin-related deaths in Jeddah remained stable but increased slightly at the end of the study period. Most patients were heroin-dependent abusers and from the middle-aged group. The availability of urine, vitreous humor, and bile specimens provided valuable information regarding the opioids that were administered and the survival time following heroin injection.

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