NCJ Number
188653
Journal
Legal Medicine Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 101-105
Date Published
August 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This case study describes postmortem findings related to a double suicide involving an acute lidocaine overdose in Japan, with emphasis on the tissue distribution of the lidocaine using an improved gas chromatographic method.
Abstract
A 78-year-old woman and her daughter, who was a nurse, committed double suicide with a bolus injection of 1 gram of lidocaine hydrochloride. Results of the autopsy revealed a blood level of 42 micrograms per milliliter and a brain concentration of 70 micrograms per gram. The blood level was higher than that calculated using the standard pharmacokinetic parameters. The postmortem analysis also revealed lower blood/tissue ratios than described in other research literature. Findings indicated that the cardiac failure occurred immediately after the lidocaine injection. The analysis concluded that the study data indicated the distribution of lidocaine after sudden death due to overdosing. Figures, tables, and 9 references (Author abstract modified)