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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...

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Autores principales: 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.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
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.
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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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