AN UNUSUAL MORPHINE FATALITY

A case is presented of a 90-year-old white female who apparently died of natural causes in a nursing home. Subsequent investigation indicate d that the decedent had been administered an unauthorized bolus of mor phine just prior to her death. The embalmed body was exhumed, an autop sy performed, and specimens were collected for toxicologic analysis. T he liver contained 1.5 mg/kg of free morphine as measured by radioimmu noassay. The presence of morphine was confirmed by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry. A review of the literature as well as in-house data collected from narcotic deaths clearly suggest that the morphine meas ured in this case was consistent with a lethal concentration. The mann er of death was homicide.