Among the emerging investigative fields, forensic medicine and toxicology lead to analyzing fatalities in medico-legal expert opinion formulating. While discussing the problem, the authors have selected 96 fatal cases from their expert practice including the period from 2010 to 2023, in which deaths were connected with taking new psychoactive substances (NPS's) belonging to various chemical categories, mainly synthetic cathinones (SC), synthetic cannabinoids (SCan) and non-medical synthetic opioids (NSO). In the investigated cases, toxicological analysis revealed 37 NPS's and their 9 metabolites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile many new psychoactive substances often disappear from the drug market rather quickly, some, such as synthetic cathinones (SCs), still remain due to their popularity among users. The current knowledge of SC concentrations in blood samples is based mainly on the published case reports of intoxications or fatalities caused by SC intake. The aim of the present study was to present and interpret the obtained toxicological analysis results of these cases, in which it was possible to determine or detect the presence of one of the isomers of chloromethcathinone (CMC) along with its intake biomarker-dihydro-CMC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe objective of the present study was to identify the metabolites of synthetic cathinone (SC), 3-chloromethcathinone (3-CMC), and to select a potential intake biomarker for this compound. The basis of the experiment was the analysis of blood and urine samples from a case of fatal poisoning with this substance. We also evaluated the stability of 3-CMC and the selected potential biomarker, the dihydro-3-CMC metabolite, depending on the time elapsed since the autopsy as well as the storage conditions of the biological material.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The aim of this study was to find causal relationships between the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), the so-called "legal highs", and the cause of death, taking into account information indicating the victim's mental disorders before death.
Material And Methods: The research material includes the results of toxicological analyses of blood samples collected during autopsies of 40 deceased persons whose cause of death was associated with the ingestion of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The blood samples were subjected to solid phase extraction (SPE), and then analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS-MS) for quantification.