Two Fatalities Involving Mebroqualone

J Anal Toxicol. 2021 Mar 12;45(3):308-311. doi: 10.1093/jat/bkaa077.

Abstract

Mebroqualone is an analogue of methaqualone, and there is a very little published information regarding the toxicity of this designer drug. We describe two cases with non-lethal levels of mebroqualone in blood collected at autopsy. Case 1 was an accidental death that involved a house fire, and the decedent was found to have a blood mebroqualone concentration of 10,228 ng/mL. Case 2 was a completed suicide by train, and the decedent was found to have a blood concentration of 115 ng/mL. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the scientific literature to compare two postmortem blood concentrations of mebroqualone. Mebroqualone was extracted from postmortem blood using a simple liquid-liquid extraction procedure and analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

MeSH terms

  • Autopsy
  • Designer Drugs* / poisoning
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  • Humans

Substances

  • Designer Drugs