Causes of Death during the Intravenous Infusion of Dimethylsulphoxide and Hydrogen Peroxide in the Course of Alternative Medicine Therapy.

Unconventional (alternative, natural) medicine in Poland and worldwide includes hundreds of non-scientifically verified "treatment" modalities. Among the most popular are biological therapies using chemical or natural compounds administered with injection or drip infusion. The latter has found the most excellent use in treating rheumatological and dermatological diseases and certain types of cancer. Vitamin infusions, curcumin, glutathione, perhydrol and dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) have gained popularity among clients of natural medicine clinics. The present study aims to analyse the case of a 37-year-old woman who was administered infusions containing perhydrol and DMSO (0.5 mL 0.04% hydrogen peroxide/0.5 mL p.d.a DMSO in saline) due to a MTHFR A1298C mutation. After having the next infusion, the woman complained of nausea and then became unconscious. Subsequently, she suffered respiratory and cardiac arrest. Adequate resuscitation was undertaken. After being taken to the hospital, the patient was in critical condition and died due to increasing multiple-organ failure. Initially, there was suspected DMSO poisoning as it was the only compound to have been administered as an intravenous infusion. However, it was not until the analysis of the secured evidence that it became clear that the patient had also been given an intravenous solution of hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, and that there had been a mistake in preparing the intravenous perhydrol solution. The autopsy concluded that the immediate cause of death was an acute cardiopulmonary failure due to the toxic effects of intravenously administered hydrogen peroxide. This conclusion was established after the toxicological testing of the evidence and biological material secured during the patient's treatment and autopsy. Products containing DMSO and perhydrol are not included in the lists of medicinal/therapeutical forms and preparations and thus are not authorised for marketing in Poland. In the case of perhydrol, apart from the topical use of diluted preparations for washing and cleansing wounds, no data on therapeutic use exist in the available scientific literature. Furthermore, "DMSO and perhydrol therapy" cannot even be considered a placebo effect, as both are toxic compounds which could, at most, cause poisoning symptoms rather than improve health.

[Diagnostic difficulties and legal analysis of potential claims to occupational medicine specialists based on a case of unrecognizable cardiac angiosarcoma]. / Trudnosci diagnostyczne i analiza prawna potencjalnych roszczen wobec lekarza medycyny pracy na przykladzie nierozpoznanego naczyniakomiesaka serca.

The article presents a case of sudden death of a 56-year-old woman at the workplace, caused by a very rare primary cardiac tumor. The patient's family reported a crime to the prosecutor's office suggesting participation of third parties in causing the death or malpractice in physical examinations before the death. A review of clinical data concerning cardiac angiosarcoma, available in electronic databases (e.g., Web of Science, PubMed), was presented, which could be useful in the practice of occupational medicine specialists. A legal analysis of potential claims to occupational medicine specialist in the case of failure to recognize primary cardiac tumors was also included in the article. Med Pr. 2020;71(6):757-64.

[Medico-legal problems of providing first aid]. / Prawno-medyczne problemy udzielania pierwszej pomocy.

The paper presents medico-legal problems associated with providing assistance to victims of traffic accidents. Legal acts have been analyzed in the aspect of help provision. Inconsistencies, and even divergences between individual regulations of the legal acts have been demonstrated. Particular attention has been paid to circumstances of providing emergency assistance, its scope, and situations when the obligation of providing first aid is no longer binding. The problem of provision or refusal to provide help seems--according to the authors--to be valid, since not all relevant legal regulations are generally known.