[Critical comments on a case history "a death case involving tilidine" (author's transl)]

The author looks critically at the description of a suicide case involving a barbiturate dose that could not be determined exactly and doses of hydroxyzine and tilidine. Drugs with a short and a medium short duration of action obviously had the greatest effect. There was no description of an investigation of the gastric contents. The concentration of barbiturates in the blood alone was sufficient to cause death. The deceased also took hydroxyzine, and then finally 750 mg tilidine in capsule form. Tilidine's action is relatively slow in onset. The author discusses tilidine's possible contribution to the cause of death and comes to a different conclusion from the authors of the case report, especially as regards the key words "Tilidine--Intoxication". The authors of the case report ought to have called it "A Death Case Involving Barbiturates, Hydroxyzine and Tilidine" rather than giving is such a suggestive title as "A Death Case Involving Tildine". This would have been a more accurate representation of the facts and would have assisted the reader to grasp the complex toxicological situation more clearly.