INSULIN-INJECTION OR MORPHINE-INJECTION - IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE ELUCIDATION OF A CASE

Two autopsy cases of an elderly couple who died on the same day will b e used to underline the importance of immunohistochemistry in forensic practice. At first unexplainable injection marks on the upper arms of the corpses and the possibility of a closely related physician inject ing insulin and certifying a natural death made it important, consider ing suspect insulin concentrations in the blood, to exclude insulin in jections in these marks. Further, the statement that morphine had been injected for the analgesia of tumour pains, was reinforced by immunoh istochemistry. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reser ved.