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Forensic Features of Pharmacobezoars
Author(s) -
England Georgina,
Heath Karen J.,
Gilbert John D.,
Byard Roger W.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12679
Subject(s) - medicine , autopsy , drug overdose , forensic pathology , accidental , cause of death , esophagus , medical prescription , toxicity , drug , surgery , larynx , bronchus , poison control , respiratory disease , lung , emergency medicine , pathology , pharmacology , disease , physics , acoustics
Three cases of pharmacobezoars are reported to demonstrate typical autopsy findings and potential lethal mechanisms: (i) A 32‐year‐old woman died following an overdose of prescription medications. A gelatinous pharmacobezoar was found forming a cast of her bronchial tree. (ii) A 24‐year‐old woman also died following an overdose of prescription medications. At autopsy, two pharmacobezoars were present, one within the larynx and another occluding the right main bronchus. Deaths in both cases were attributed to airway occlusion by pharmacobezoars complicating mixed drug toxicity. (iii) A 79‐year‐old man was found dead in a car. Death was attributed to the combined effects of carbon monoxide and drug toxicity with a large pharmacobezoar lodged within the esophagus. Pharmacobezoars are specific types of bezoars that occur when pharmaceutical materials, such as tablets, suspensions, and/or drug delivery devices, aggregate and contribute to death by occluding airways with tenacious material or by eluting drugs.