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Reliability of Postmortem Fentanyl Concentrations in Determining the Cause of Death

  • Toxicology Investigation
  • Published:
Journal of Medical Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 12 June 2015

Abstract

Introduction

Transdermal fentanyl, an opioid used for management of marked pain, also is abused and may cause death.

Methods

We reviewed medical examiner reports of 92 decedents who had one or more fentanyl transdermal patches on their body and had fentanyl detected in their postmortem toxicology analysis.

Results

The manners of death included 40 accidents, 36 natural, 8 suicides, 5 therapeutic complications, and 3 undetermined deaths. Among the accidental fentanyl intoxication deaths, 32 of 37 involved substance abuse. The majority (95 %) of the 37 accidental deaths involving fentanyl were multi-drug intoxications. The substance abuse deaths had a mean fentanyl blood concentration (26.4 ng/ml or μg/L) that was over twice that of the natural group (11.8 ng/ml). Our analysis suggests a relationship between total patch dosage and mean postmortem fentanyl concentration up to the 100-μg/h dose.

Conclusions

The very wide and overlapping ranges of postmortem fentanyl concentrations effectively nullify the utility of correlating the dose and expected postmortem concentration for any particular death. Based on the variable relationship between dose and blood concentration, the antemortem dose cannot be reliably predicted based on the postmortem concentration. This does not, however, render the medical examiner/coroner unable to determine the cause and manner of death because the toxicology results are only one datum point among several that are considered. Although there was a weakly positive relationship between body mass index and fentanyl concentration, further research is needed to determine whether adipose tissue represents a significant depot for postmortem release of fentanyl.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. Charles Hirsch for his critical review of the manuscript and Dr. Elizabeth Marker for her help in identifying these cases.

Conflict of Interest

There is no outside funding of any kind used for this study and it has not been previously presented at a meeting in data or in abstract form. Lewis Nelson has served as an expert witness in cases involving transdermal fentanyl.

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Correspondence to James R. Gill.

Additional information

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13181-014-0427-y.

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Gill, J.R., Lin, P.T. & Nelson, L. Reliability of Postmortem Fentanyl Concentrations in Determining the Cause of Death. J. Med. Toxicol. 9, 34–41 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-012-0253-z

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