“Bath Salts” the New York City Medical Examiner Experience: A 3-Year Retrospective Review
- Autores: Stephen J. deRoux, William A Dunn
- Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 62, Nº. 3, 2017, págs. 695-699
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
-
Resumen
“Bath salts” are synthetic derivatives of cathinones, compounds found in the leaves of Catha edulis, which possesses ampheta-mine-like properties. At the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, we conducted a 3-year retrospective analysis of deaths in which cathinones were detected. Two categories emerged; those in which cathinones were a contributory cause of death (15 cases) and those in which they were an incidental finding (15 cases). Of the former group, 13 were associated with additional intoxicants; two deaths were attributed solely to cathinone intoxication, both survived 10 h: a man whose postmortem blood methylone concentration was 0.71 mg/L and a woman whose postmortem blood ethylone concentration was 1.7 mg/L. In the latter category, there were several individuals who had higher concentrations of cathinones than the above two, the highest being a blood methylone of 4.8 mg/L. Based upon our data and the literature presented, lethal concentrations of cathinones cannot be established.
