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Attempted murder with pancuronium
E J Briglia1, P L Davis, M Katz
1Division of Medical-Legal Investigations and Forensic Sciences, County of Suffolk, Hauppauge, NY.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
|November 1, 1990
Summary
A nurse used pancuronium, a neuromuscular blocking agent, to poison her husband. Advanced analytical methods, including gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), confirmed the presence of pancuronium in urine samples, leading to legal adjudication.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Toxicology
- Analytical Chemistry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- A case involving alleged poisoning by a nurse using a neuromuscular blocking agent.
- The need for reliable methods to detect specific drugs in biological samples.
Observation:
- Urine samples were collected from the victim following two suspected poisoning incidents.
- Initial screening using fluorometry with Rose Bengal dye indicated presumptive positive results for pancuronium.
Findings:
- Confirmation of pancuronium was achieved through a multi-step process.
- This involved complexation with potassium iodide, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) cleanup, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis.
- GC/MS analysis, utilizing selected-ion monitoring, detected characteristic fragments of pancuronium after pyrolytic N-demethylation.
Implications:
- The validated analytical method provided crucial evidence for the legal case.
- Highlights the importance of advanced forensic toxicology in criminal investigations.
- Demonstrates the utility of GC/MS in identifying complex quaternary amines in biological matrices.