Toxicological findings in fatal motor vehicle collisions in ontario, Canada: a one-year study.

Drug-impaired driving is a complex area of forensic toxicology due in part to limited data concerning the type of drugs involved and the concentrations detected. This study analyzed toxicological findings in drivers from fatal motor vehicle collisions (FMVCs) in Ontario, Canada, over a one-year period using a standardized protocol. Of the 229 cases included in the study, 56% were positive for alcohol and/or drugs.

Characteristics of opioid-users whose death was related to opioid-toxicity: a population-based study in Ontario, Canada.

Background: The impact of the prescription opioid public health crisis has been illustrated by the dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths in North America. We aimed to identify patterns and characteristics amongst opioid-users whose cause of death was related to opioid toxicity.

Methods: This was a population-based study of Ontarians between the years 2006 and 2008.

Are infants exposed to methadone in utero at an increased risk for mortality?

Background: The prevalence of opioid abuse is increasing in North America. Opioid abuse during pregnancy can cause medical, obstetric and psychosocial complications. Neonates exposed to opioids in utero often develop the neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Determining mortality rates attributable to Clostridium difficile infection.

To determine accuracy of measures of deaths attributable to Clostridium difficile infection, we compared 3 measures for 2007-2008 in Ontario, Canada: death certificate; death within 30 days of infection; and panel review. Data on death within 30 days were more feasible than panel review and more accurate than death certificate data.

Pediatric fire deaths in Ontario: retrospective study of behavioural, social, and environmental risk factors.

Objective: To identify the predictors of residential fire deaths in the Ontario pediatric population using systematically collected data from the Office of the Chief Coroner.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Ontario.

Fatal hydrocodone overdose in a child: pharmacogenetics and drug interactions.

Fatal opioid toxicity occurred in a developmentally delayed child aged 5 years 9 months who was inadvertently administered high doses of hydrocodone for a respiratory tract infection. The concentration of hydrocodone in postmortem blood was in the range associated with fatality; however, hydromorphone, a major metabolite catalyzed by cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6), was not detected when using mass spectrometry. Genetic analysis revealed that the child had a reduced capability to metabolize the drug via the CYP2D6 pathway (CYP2D6*2A/*41).