Identification of furosemide in hair in a post‐mortem case by UHPLC‐MS/MS with guidance on interpretation

Testing for drugs in hair raises several difficulties. Among them is the interpretation of the final concentration(s). In a post‐mortem case, analyses revealed the presence of furosemide (12 ng/mL) in femoral blood, although it was not part of the victim's treatment. The prosecutor requested our laboratory to undertake an additional analysis in hair to obtain information about the use of furosemide. A specific method was therefore developed and validated to identify and quantify furosemide in hair by UHPLC‐MS/MS. After decontamination of 30 mg of hair, incubation in acidic condition, extraction with ethyl acetate, the samples were analyzed by UHPLC‐MS/MS. Furosemide was found in the victim's hair at 225 pg/mg. However, it was not possible to interpret this concentration due to the absence of data in the literature. Therefore, the authors performed a controlled study in two parts. In order to establish the basis of interpretation, several volunteers were tested (four after a single 20 mg administration and twenty‐four under daily treatment). The first part indicated that a single dose is not detectable in hair using our method. The second part demonstrated concentrations ranging from 5 to 1110 pg/mg with no correlation between dosage and hair concentrations. The decedent's hair result was interpreted as repeated exposures. In the case of furosemide analysis, hair can provide information about its presence but cannot give information about dosage or frequency of use.     

Précis of The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science,Theory and Ethics of Sexual Orientation

Law and Philosophy -     

Reply to Martha Nussbaum and Ian Hacking

Law and Philosophy -     

Strategische Umweltprüfung für die Offshore-Windenergienutzung – Großräumige Wirkungen und Monitoring – Tagung an der Universität Lüneburg, Professur für Öffentliches Recht, 20.4.2006

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The most personal information of all: an appraisal of genetic privacy in the shadow of the Human Genome Project

The advent of genetics and genetic testing has given rise to unique problems for the family. The discovery of a predisposition to a genetic condition in one individual also reveals information about the genetic make-up and potential risks of family members. There is, therefore, potential for conflict over access to and control of such information. Traditionally the duty of confidentiality owed by a health care professional to a patient has provided an appropriate means by which personal health information has been kept secured. It is not clear, however, that the problems which surrounds genetic information in the familial milieu can be adequately dealt with using confidentiality. This article examines these problems and argues for the value of an appeal to the concept of privacy in seeking to resolve some of the more intractable issues.     

Joseph’s Squinting Eye: Race and Individualism in Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country

Peter Matthiessen’s novel Shadow Country offers a fictionalized account of the life of real-life character Edgar Watson. Matthiessen’s portrayal illustrates Jack Turner’s argument in Awakening to Race that atomistic individualism both justifies an individual’s success as a product of that person’s hard work and masks the racial inequality on which that success is actually predicated. Turner advocates an “awakening to race” as an important step toward replacing atomistic individualism with democratic individualism in American society. Matthiessen’s work deepens Turner’s analysis by showing that the whiteness of Watson’s atomistic individualism is inflected by masculinity. Further, Matthiessen depicts the difficulty of awakening to race for many white Americans. The Edgar Watson narrative serves to show that while closing one’s eyes to race may appear to be an advantage for most white people, not awakening to race actually exacts a devastating psychological tax. That kind of insight, which approaching political theory through literature affords, may help white Americans circumvent psychological mechanisms of denial and acknowledge the difficult history of their country.