CHLOROQUINE SUICIDE,
Abstract
Thirteen cases of death due to chloroquine overdosage were encountered involving individuals in the Far East on antimalarial treatment and a patient with arthritis taking chloroquine for symptomatic relief. Suicide was the most likely manner of death in all cases. These patients showed a rapid course, with death often occuring in less than two hours. Autopsy findings were unrewarding, unless the pills could be recovered from the stomach. Toxicologic analysis was used to confirm chloroquine poisoning as the cause of death, the fatal cases showing a twenty-fold increase in tissue concentration over the therapeutic level. In a drug of reputedly low toxicity like chloroquine, its uses as a suicidal agent indicates that control of large supplies of the tablets should be maintained with care. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0451574
Entities
People
- Frank W. Kiel
Organizations
- Armed Forces Institute of Pathology