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Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
There has been a significant increase in sodium azide intoxications since the 1980s. Intoxications caused by sodium azide are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Netherlands as a result of its promotion for the purpose of self-euthanasia. The mechanism of toxicity is not completely understood but...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10385699/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37505573 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11070608 |
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author | van der Heijden, Lisa T. van den Hondel, Karen E. Olyslager, Erik J. H. de Jong, Lutea A. A. Reijnders, Udo J. L. Franssen, Eric J. F. |
author_facet | van der Heijden, Lisa T. van den Hondel, Karen E. Olyslager, Erik J. H. de Jong, Lutea A. A. Reijnders, Udo J. L. Franssen, Eric J. F. |
author_sort | van der Heijden, Lisa T. |
collection | PubMed |
description | There has been a significant increase in sodium azide intoxications since the 1980s. Intoxications caused by sodium azide are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Netherlands as a result of its promotion for the purpose of self-euthanasia. The mechanism of toxicity is not completely understood but is dose-dependent. The presented case describes a suicide by sodium azide of a young woman (26 years old) with a history of depression and suicide attempts. The decedent was found in the presence of prescription medicine, including temazepam, domperidone in combination with omeprazole, and the chemical preservative sodium azide. Quantitative toxicology screening of whole blood revealed the presence of 70 µg/L temazepam (toxic range > 1000 µg/L) and 28 mg/L sodium azide (fatal range: 2.6–262 mg/L). Whole blood qualitative analysis revealed the presence of temazepam, temazepam-glucuronide, olanzapine, n-desmethylolanzapine, and acetaminophen. In circles promoting sodium azide, it is recommended to use sodium azide in combination with medications targeting sodium azide’s negative effects, such as analgesics, antiemetics, and anti-anxiety drugs. The medicines recovered at the body’s location, as well as the results of the toxicology screens, were consistent with the recommendations of self-euthanasia using sodium azide. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10385699 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103856992023-07-30 Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature van der Heijden, Lisa T. van den Hondel, Karen E. Olyslager, Erik J. H. de Jong, Lutea A. A. Reijnders, Udo J. L. Franssen, Eric J. F. Toxics Case Report There has been a significant increase in sodium azide intoxications since the 1980s. Intoxications caused by sodium azide are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Netherlands as a result of its promotion for the purpose of self-euthanasia. The mechanism of toxicity is not completely understood but is dose-dependent. The presented case describes a suicide by sodium azide of a young woman (26 years old) with a history of depression and suicide attempts. The decedent was found in the presence of prescription medicine, including temazepam, domperidone in combination with omeprazole, and the chemical preservative sodium azide. Quantitative toxicology screening of whole blood revealed the presence of 70 µg/L temazepam (toxic range > 1000 µg/L) and 28 mg/L sodium azide (fatal range: 2.6–262 mg/L). Whole blood qualitative analysis revealed the presence of temazepam, temazepam-glucuronide, olanzapine, n-desmethylolanzapine, and acetaminophen. In circles promoting sodium azide, it is recommended to use sodium azide in combination with medications targeting sodium azide’s negative effects, such as analgesics, antiemetics, and anti-anxiety drugs. The medicines recovered at the body’s location, as well as the results of the toxicology screens, were consistent with the recommendations of self-euthanasia using sodium azide. MDPI 2023-07-13 /pmc/articles/PMC10385699/ /pubmed/37505573 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11070608 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Case Report van der Heijden, Lisa T. van den Hondel, Karen E. Olyslager, Erik J. H. de Jong, Lutea A. A. Reijnders, Udo J. L. Franssen, Eric J. F. Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title | Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title_full | Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title_fullStr | Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title_full_unstemmed | Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title_short | Internet-Purchased Sodium Azide Used in a Fatal Suicide Attempt: A Case Report and Review of the Literature |
title_sort | internet-purchased sodium azide used in a fatal suicide attempt: a case report and review of the literature |
topic | Case Report |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10385699/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37505573 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11070608 |
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