Suspected North Carolina Counterfeit Pill-Involved Deaths, 2020-2022
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprintsoup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com..
The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner regularly assumes jurisdiction over deaths that are suspicious, unusual, or unattended by a medical professional. In recent years, the presence of counterfeit pills is occasionally suggested by investigatory notes and/or scene findings that document reported consumption of prescription drugs, or prescription drugs on scene, which are not reflected in the final autopsy findings after toxicological analysis of the decedent's blood samples. Counterfeit pill consumption is a major public health hazard worthy of attention from the forensic toxicology community. Seventy-five cases from January 2020 to December 2022 serve as a convenience sample of cases where prescription pills including formulations of alprazolam, oxycodone, and hydrocodone were specifically referenced during the death scene investigation as recently consumed, yet an unexpected substance was found during toxicological analysis rather than the expected pharmaceutical drug. Of note, novel benzodiazepines detected included flualprazolam, etizolam, clonazolam metabolite (8-aminoclonazolam), bromazolam, flubromazolam, and desalkylflurazepam. Decedents' ages ranged from 16 to 69, across 33 different North Carolina counties. Case notes indicated that eight of the decedents obtained pills through direct personal relationships, six decedents obtained them from "the street", and one decedent likely purchased pills online. Pills were largely consumed orally or through insufflation. Seven case reports contained indication that decedents knew or suspected the counterfeit nature of their pills. This study describes the context and characteristics of 2020-2022 suspected counterfeit pill-involved deaths in North Carolina to further the understanding of the forensic science community, law enforcement partners, public health stakeholders, and those potentially at risk through the consumption of counterfeit pills.
| Medienart: |
E-Artikel |
|---|
| Erscheinungsjahr: |
2024 |
|---|---|
| Erschienen: |
2024 |
| Enthalten in: |
Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2024 |
|---|---|
| Enthalten in: |
Journal of analytical toxicology - (2024) vom: 29. März |
| Sprache: |
Englisch |
|---|
| Beteiligte Personen: |
Friederich, Laura W [VerfasserIn] |
|---|
| Links: |
|---|
| Themen: |
Alprazolam |
|---|
| Anmerkungen: |
Date Revised 27.04.2024 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status Publisher |
|---|
| doi: |
10.1093/jat/bkae027 |
|---|
| funding: |
|
|---|---|
| Förderinstitution / Projekttitel: |
|
| PPN (Katalog-ID): |
NLM371652596 |
|---|
| LEADER | 01000naa a22002652 4500 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 001 | NLM371652596 | ||
| 003 | DE-627 | ||
| 005 | 20240427233509.0 | ||
| 007 | cr uuu---uuuuu | ||
| 008 | 240427s2024 xx |||||o 00| ||eng c | ||
| 024 | 7 | |a 10.1093/jat/bkae027 |2 doi | |
| 028 | 5 | 2 | |a pubmed24n1390.xml |
| 035 | |a (DE-627)NLM371652596 | ||
| 035 | |a (NLM)38676414 | ||
| 035 | |a (PII)bkae027 | ||
| 040 | |a DE-627 |b ger |c DE-627 |e rakwb | ||
| 041 | |a eng | ||
| 100 | 1 | |a Friederich, Laura W |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 245 | 1 | 0 | |a Suspected North Carolina Counterfeit Pill-Involved Deaths, 2020-2022 |
| 264 | 1 | |c 2024 | |
| 336 | |a Text |b txt |2 rdacontent | ||
| 337 | |a ƒaComputermedien |b c |2 rdamedia | ||
| 338 | |a ƒa Online-Ressource |b cr |2 rdacarrier | ||
| 500 | |a Date Revised 27.04.2024 | ||
| 500 | |a published: Print-Electronic | ||
| 500 | |a Citation Status Publisher | ||
| 520 | |a © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprintsoup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com. | ||
| 520 | |a The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner regularly assumes jurisdiction over deaths that are suspicious, unusual, or unattended by a medical professional. In recent years, the presence of counterfeit pills is occasionally suggested by investigatory notes and/or scene findings that document reported consumption of prescription drugs, or prescription drugs on scene, which are not reflected in the final autopsy findings after toxicological analysis of the decedent's blood samples. Counterfeit pill consumption is a major public health hazard worthy of attention from the forensic toxicology community. Seventy-five cases from January 2020 to December 2022 serve as a convenience sample of cases where prescription pills including formulations of alprazolam, oxycodone, and hydrocodone were specifically referenced during the death scene investigation as recently consumed, yet an unexpected substance was found during toxicological analysis rather than the expected pharmaceutical drug. Of note, novel benzodiazepines detected included flualprazolam, etizolam, clonazolam metabolite (8-aminoclonazolam), bromazolam, flubromazolam, and desalkylflurazepam. Decedents' ages ranged from 16 to 69, across 33 different North Carolina counties. Case notes indicated that eight of the decedents obtained pills through direct personal relationships, six decedents obtained them from "the street", and one decedent likely purchased pills online. Pills were largely consumed orally or through insufflation. Seven case reports contained indication that decedents knew or suspected the counterfeit nature of their pills. This study describes the context and characteristics of 2020-2022 suspected counterfeit pill-involved deaths in North Carolina to further the understanding of the forensic science community, law enforcement partners, public health stakeholders, and those potentially at risk through the consumption of counterfeit pills | ||
| 650 | 4 | |a Journal Article | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Alprazolam | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Counterfeit Pills | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Fentanyl | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Novel Designer Benzodiazepine | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Opioid Epidemic | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Overdose | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Oxycodone | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Percocet | |
| 650 | 4 | |a Xanax | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Cox, Mary E |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Hyson, Brian E |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 700 | 1 | |a Bishop-Freeman, Sandra C |e verfasserin |4 aut | |
| 773 | 0 | 8 | |i Enthalten in |t Journal of analytical toxicology |d 1980 |g (2024) vom: 29. März |w (DE-627)NLM012646741 |x 1945-2403 |7 nnns |
| 773 | 1 | 8 | |g year:2024 |g day:29 |g month:03 |
| 856 | 4 | 0 | |u http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jat/bkae027 |3 Volltext |
| 912 | |a GBV_USEFLAG_A | ||
| 912 | |a GBV_NLM | ||
| 951 | |a AR | ||
| 952 | |j 2024 |b 29 |c 03 | ||