"Tampering to Death": A Fatal Codeine Intoxication Due to a Homemade Purification of a Medical Formulation.
J Forensic Sci
; 62(6): 1671-1673, 2017 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28295321
ABSTRACT
Many homemade tamper processes of medical codeine formulations are available on selected "forums" on the Internet, where recreational codeine users claim to be able to purify codeine by removing additives, such as acetaminophen, to avoid or limit adverse effects. In this work, it is reported and discussed a fatal case of codeine intoxication. The findings of objects such as jars, filters, and tablets, and amounts of unknown liquid material at the death scene investigation suggested a fatal codeine intoxication after the tampering procedure called "cold water extraction." Toxicological results obtained from the analysis of both the nonbiological material and the body fluids of the decedent integrated with the information collected at the death scene investigation confirmed the above-mentioned hypothesis. This report underlines the importance of a tight interconnection between criminalistics and legal medicine to strengthen the identification of the cause of death and the reconstruction of the event.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Tablets
/
Codeine
/
Analgesics, Opioid
/
Opioid-Related Disorders
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Forensic Sci
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy