ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 3

Fatal Overdose of Zopiclone in an Elderly Woman with Bronchogenic Carcinoma
Bramness, JG
Medical officer, National Institute of Forensic Toxicology,

Arnestad, M
Medical officer, Institute of Forensic Pathology, National Hospital,

Karinen, R
Research officer, National Institute of Forensic Toxicology,

Hilberg, T
Senior medical officer, National Institute of Forensic Toxicology,

(Received 31 May 2000; accepted 13 October 2000)

Abstract

The death of a 72-year-old woman with respiratory debilitation due to bronchogenic carcinoma is described. She overdosed herself with probably 200 to 350 mg of zopiclone. Zopiclone, quantitated by HPLC in femoral postmortem blood, was found to be 1.9 mg/L (4.8 µmol/L). This level is higher than many other zopiclone fatalities reported. We report a case where only zopiclone was detected.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic toxicology, zopiclone, high performance liquid chromatography, overdose, fatality

Paper ID: JFS15131J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS15131J
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