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An announced suicide with ecstasy

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Abstract

Most cases of ecstasy overdose turn out to be accidental, whereas suicide attempts with designer drugs occur only sporadically. We report an announced suicide by means of a combination of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA). During autopsy, sampling for toxicological investigation (peripheral blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, bile and gastric contents) occurred. Serum concentrations as high as 13.33 mg/l for MDMA, 7.32 mg/l for MDEA and 0.43 mg/l for 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine were found. Ecstasy tablets, which were confiscated by the police a few days earlier, showed also a combination of MDMA and MDEA. This fact suggests that the ingested tablets probably came from the same source as the seized pills.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Muellerstrasse 44, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Kathrin Libiseller, Marion Pavlic, Petra Grubwieser & Walter Rabl

Authors
  1. Kathrin Libiseller
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  2. Marion Pavlic
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  3. Petra Grubwieser
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  4. Walter Rabl
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Correspondence to Kathrin Libiseller.

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Libiseller, K., Pavlic, M., Grubwieser, P. et al. An announced suicide with ecstasy. Int J Legal Med 121, 40–43 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0039-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0039-9

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