title: Insulin and the law.
abstract: Hypoglycaemia, if it can be proved, may be used as a defence against almost any criminal charge provided it can be established that the perpetrator was in a state of neuroglycopenic (hypoglycaemic) automatism at the time of the offence. Hypoglycaemia produced by exogenous insulin can also be used as a suicidal or homicidal weapon. This paper discusses some of the pitfalls confronting the investigator of suspected insulin misuse including problems arising from the increasing prevalence of insulin analogues and the unreliability of immunoassays for their detection and measurement in the forensic context.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health an Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK vincentmarks@btinternet.com.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marks
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D044707:Forensic Sciences; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D007328:Insulin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin
keywords: Immunoassay; drugs; mass spectrometry; murder; suicide