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- Title
Heroin-related Deaths from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office from 2004 Through 2015.
- Authors
Love, Sara A.; Lelinski, Jessica; Kloss, Julie; Middleton, Owen; Apple, Fred S.
- Abstract
Over the past two decades, prescription and illicit opioid use has led to changes in public health policy to address the increasing number of opioid-related deaths. The purpose of this study was to review cases from Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office between 2004 through 2015 where heroin was listed as a significant contributor or as the cause of death. We identified 322 heroin-related deaths, which were predominantly male (255; 79%). 6-Monoacetylmorphine (6- MAM) median (range) concentrations were as follows: blood ( n = 7), 0.010 (0.006-0.078) mg/L; urine ( n = 30), 0.359 (0.009-1.75) mg/L; and vitreous humor ( n = 31), 0.034 (0.004-0.24) mg/L. Free morphine was measurable in 273 cases and the percent free morphine (range), when grouped by COD, was opioid ( n = 124), 28% (2.2%-92%), and mixed drug toxicity ( n = 135), 35.3% (1.5%-100%); ( p < 0.01). Quantitation of 6- MAM in blood and vitreous humor, along with a free to total morphine ratio >26%, was useful in establishing heroin-related deaths.
- Subjects
HEROIN; CAUSES of death; FORENSIC toxicology; DRUG toxicity; AUTOPSY
- Publication
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2018, Vol 63, Issue 1, p191
- ISSN
0022-1198
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/1556-4029.13511