Cocaine is one of the most widely abused drugs and one that is frequently encountered in forensic toxicology laboratories. Most often, the detection of cocaine would lead toxicologists and forensic pathologists to believe that the drug was used illicitly; however, cocaine is an effective local anesthetic and vasoconstrictor and is used clinically in surgeries of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. ...

In this study opiates (morphine and codeine) and cocaine and its related metabolites (benzoylecgonine and cocaethylene) were analyzed in pericardial fluid by GC/MS. This is the first study reporting levels of drugs of abuse in this body fluid. The analytical method used has been previously validated and then applied to 54 drug-related deaths in the Barcelona area (Spain). Median levels were as ...

An analytical database, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array ultraviolet (UV) detection, of over 250 toxicologically relevant drugs has been extensively applied to both clinical and forensic toxicology. This general drug screening system, based on a mixed-phase (octadecyl/cyanopropyl) column and gradient reversed-phase HPLC, can identify a wide range of basic, ac...

Atropine is an anticholinergic drug, used in treatment of spasm and pain. Postmortem blood atropine concentrations tend to be regionally dependent. We reported in this work the analytical findings of atropine in the peripheral and heart blood from a case of suspected death. Atropine was determined in both peripheral and heart blood by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Towards...

A simple and rapid method was validated to determine furosemide in whole blood. The experimental work was performed so that all validation parameters are considered simultaneously in a one-day assay protocol. A solid-phase extraction procedure using BondElut-LRC Certify columns was used to extract this compound from blood samples, while ketoprofen was used as an internal standard. The extracts ...

A 54-year-old man, working as a shepherd, was found dead in a valley, at the bottom of a natural pit, by the family members. The pit had very steep walls, was 3,5 meters deep and had a diameter of about 10 meters. The investigators stated that most probably, some sheep fell into the pit, the shepherd lowered himself there in order to bring them out, but unfortunately the rest of the sheep follo...

Background: Broad spectrum drug screening, also known as systematic toxicological analysis or general unknown screening (GUS), is a method commonly used by clinical and forensic toxicology laboratories to detect a variety of drugs and metabolites in biological fluids. Recently, there has been much interest in liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LCHRMS) techniques for GUS as...

Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are a group of substances, mostly synthetic in origin, that generally stimulate the central nervous system. Chemical modification of their molecular structure results in a practically unlimited number of pharmacologically active compounds, some of which are more potent stimulants than others. The gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and, m...