[Recommendations for the prescription, implementation and interpretation of medical examinations in biology in the context of severe poisoning]. / Recommandations pour la prescription, la réalisation et l'interprétation des examens de biologie médicale dans le cadre des intoxications graves.

A multidisciplinary working group named "Toxicology and clinical biology" and whose members belong to the French Society of Clinical Biology (SFBC), Critical Care Medicine Society of French Language (SRLF), the French Society of Medical Emergency (SFMU), the French Society of Analytical Toxicology (SFTA), the Society of Clinical Toxicology (STC), and the National College of Biochemistry (CNBH) updated the professional practice recommendations published in 2003. These recommendations aimed the biologists who are not specialized in toxicology and more largely all the health professionals involved the management of severely poisoned patients. Among the data published in the initial edition, only the major table dealing with severe poisonings was updated, as all other supplements remained valid. The current revised table details poisonings due to fifty-five different xenobiotics and presents their main clinical features, useful biomarkers of toxicity, methods of identification or assays available in the emergent setting with their respective relevance and recommended delays to obtain their result. Assessments with a good agreement among the working group members regarding all laboratory issues for poisoning management are presented. A table updates the list of the main currently useful antidotes. A section on the value and place of toxicology screening was added.

Methadone as a chemical weapon: two fatal cases involving babies.

Methadone is largely used for the substitution management of opiate-dependent individuals but can also be easily found on the black market. The first cases involving repetitive sedation linked to the use of methadone and subsequent death of 2 babies are reported. At the autopsy, no particular morphologic changes were noted except for pulmonary and visceral congestion. There was no evidence of violence, and the pathologist in both cases found no needle marks. Toxicological analyses, as achieved by GC/MS, demonstrated both recent and repetitive methadone exposure. In case 1, a 14-month-old girl was found dead at home. Blood concentrations were 1071 and 148 ng/mL for methadone and EDDP, respectively. Hair (6 cm) tested positive at 1.91 and 0.82 ng/mg for methadone and EDDP, respectively. In case 2, a 5-month-old girl was taken to hospital in a pediatric unit for coma. Antemortem blood analysis demonstrated methadone exposure (142 ng/mL), and the baby was declared dead 12 days after admission. Hair analysis (5 cm) by segmentation was positive for methadone in the range 1.0 (root) to 21.3 ng/mg (end). The death of the babies was attributed to accidental asphyxia ina situation where methadone was considered as a chemical weapon. The mothers, who were the perpetrators in both cases, did not deny the use of methadone as a sedative drug.