title: Blood investigation in a fatality involving the veterinary drug T-61.
abstract: A case involving an acute fatality resulting from self-administration of about 30 mL of T-61, a euthanasia solution, consisting of a mixture of embutramide, mebezonium, and tetracaine, in a 58-year-old veterinarian is presented. Forensic investigations consisted of an external body examination, during which 5 mL of fluorinated femoral blood was collected. Embutramide and tetracaine were quantitated using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry after extraction with chloroform/isopropanol/n-heptane (50:17:33, v/v) at pH 9.5 and separation on an HP5-MS capillary column. Mebezonium was quantitated using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry after ion-pair extraction (saturated KI solution) with methylene chloride at pH 5.4 and separation on a 5-mm Nucleosil C18 column. Blood concentrations were 43.0, 6.5, and 0.21 mg/L for embutramide, mebezonium, and tetracaine, respectively. No other drugs, including ethanol, were detected.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Médecine Légale, Faculté de Medeciné, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kintz
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cirimele
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludes
mesh_terms: D000577:Amides / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004338:Drug Combinations; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D013405:Suicide; D013748:Tetracaine / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D018634:Veterinarians
chemical_list: D000577:Amides; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D013748:Tetracaine; C015591:T 61