Death following cupric sulfate emesis.
A 25-year-old woman who had ingested about 20 tablets of diazepam 2.5 mg in a suicide attempt was given cupric sulfate 2.5 g in 1750 mL water as an emetic, but died 3 days later. On autopsy, death was attributed to acute hemolysis and acute renal failure due to copper poisoning. Copper concentrations were 5.31 microg/mL in whole blood, 19.0 microg/g in the liver, 8.9 microg/g in the kidney, 1.1 microg/L in the brain, 1.1 microg/g in the gastric wall, 1.5 microg/g in the jejunal wall, 0.3 microg/g in the colon wall, 4.6 microg/g in the gastric contents, and 12.6 microg/g in the intestinal contents (fresh weight). This case and 10 others from the Chinese medical literature provide additional evidence that cupric sulfate is a corrosive poison and contraindicated as an emetic.
Liu
J
J
Department of Chemistry, China Medical University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China. jtliu@mail.cmu.edu.cn
Kashimura
S
S
Hara
K
K
Zhang
G
G
D000328:Adult; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D019327:Copper Sulfate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000506:poisoning*; D003975:Diazepam / Q000506:poisoning; D004639:Emetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000506:poisoning*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011041:Poisoning / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000150:complications
D004639:Emetics; D003300:Copper; D019327:Copper Sulfate; D003975:Diazepam