A comparison of carboxyhemoglobin saturation values in postmortem heart blood and peripheral blood specimens

The following is a study conducted to determine whether there was any significant difference in carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) saturation levels between the heart blood and blood collected from a peripheral site. The average heart blood to peripheral blood COHb saturation level ratio in the 42 cases studied was 1.09. Sixty-two percent (26 of 42) of the cases had a heart blood to peripheral blood ratio between 0.9 and 1.1; 74% (31 of 42) had a ratio between 0.8 and 1.2. Eighty-three percent (35 of 42) had a ratio between 0.7 and 1.3. There were four cases where the heart blood to peripheral blood ratio was either below 0.6 or greater than 1.4. The differences between the two sites were not statistically significant.     

Toxicological findings in Federal Aviation Administration general aviation accidents

Blood, urine, and tissue specimens were received from 377 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation fatalities during fiscal year 1989. Carbon monoxide at less than 10% saturation was found in 94% of the cases, and cyanide at less than 0.5 mg/L was found in 96% of the cases. Ethanol at greater than 10 mg/dL was found in 14.8% of the cases, but only 4.5% were determined to be due to ethanol ingestion from toxicological findings. Excluding nicotine and ethanol, 12.6% of the cases were positive for one or more drugs. Acetaminophen and salicylate were the most frequently found drugs. Cannabinoids were found in 1.3% of the cases and benzoylecgonine in 1.6%. There was minimal use of therapeutic drugs that cause central nervous system depression or stimulation. These results show no consistent pattern of drug involvement in civilian aviation fatalities.     

Comparison of Abbott fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) and Roche radioimmunoassay for the analyses of cannabinoids in urine specimens.

Abbott fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) and Roche Abuscreen radioimmunoassay (RIA) were compared qualitatively with 142 urine specimens containing 11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid. Similar qualitative results were obtained in 132 specimens. When discrepent results were observed, all negative results were within 20% of the 100 ng/mL cut-off. We concluded that FPIA and RIA give comparable results to each other.     

Thiamylal: review of the literature and report of a suicide

A 28-year-old white male medical student was found hanging by the neck from the bathroom closet of a hotel room. An intravenous infusion line leading from a bottle of thiamylal sodium (an ultrashort-acting barbiturate) was inserted into the antecubital vein of the left arm. Blood was analyzed for alcohol and other volatiles and for acidic, basic, and neutral drugs. Only thiamylal was detected. Thiamylal was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, and its presence was confirmed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The tissue distribution of thiamylal was 29 mg/L in blood, 1.4 mg/L in urine, 16 mg/L in bile, 135 mg/kg in liver, 25 mg/kg in kidney, and 0.4 mg in the stomach contents. The uptake and distribution of thiamylal is similar to thiopental. The distribution of the drug in this case was compared to that of other fatalities involving ultrashort-acting barbiturates.     

Federal crime legislation through the eyes of Alexis de Tocquiville

The political process entailed in the passage of federal crime legislation in 1994 and the revisions of it being considered in 1995 are analyzed as a manifestation of three central themes about American politics articulated by Alexis de Tocqueville inDemocracy in America published in 1835. It is argued that crackdown measures of dubious value in fighting crime are the result of majoritarianism, a national consensus favoring very conservative crime policies. A second factor at work is pluralism, the strong role played by interest groups in American politics. Thirdly, the racial politics which De Tocqueville thought were destined to plague the United States indefinitely are shown to form a backdrop to the formulation of crime control measures. The article concludes with a discussion of a strategy for the development of more enlightened crime policies in the face of stark realities about the nature of the policy-making process.A version of this article was delivered at the 1994 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Miami, Florida, November 9–12, 1994.     

Screening postmortem blood and tissues for nine classes [correction of cases] of drugs of abuse using automated microplate immunoassay

A commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was evaluated as a screening procedure for the detection of nine classes of abused drugs in postmortem blood and tissue specimens. Specifically, postmortem blood, fluid and/or tissue homogenates were screened for amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (MET), barbiturates (BARB), benzodiazepines (BZD), cannabinoids (CNB), cocaine (benzoylecgonine; BE), morphine-specific (MOR), opiates (class; OPI), phencyclidine (PCP) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by ELISA and by coated tube radioimmunoassay (CTR) (BARB, BE, OPI, PCP, LSD) or double-antibody radioimmunoassay (DAR) (AMP/METH, BZD, CNB). Specimens that screened 'positive' by any method were confirmed and quantitated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The only assay that appeared to perform less optimally than RIA was the MOR assay (five false negatives). However, this assay is very specific for free morphine while the GC/MS confirmation method provided a total morphine value. The OPI assay was more sensitive, producing fewer false negatives, and is recommended for broad class opiate screening. EIA is an adequate alternative to RIA for screening postmortem specimens, including blood and tissue, for nine major classes of drugs.