Monday, August 8, 2011

Emedinews: Insights on Medicolegal issues: What is arsenic poisoning and its medicolegal importance?


The organic compounds contain arsenic either in trivalent or pentavalent combination.
  • The chief toxic manifestations are anaphylactic reaction; later on, skin reactions, hepatitis, jaundice, encephalitis may occur. The less soluble compounds cause local tissue necrosis.
  • Salvarsan and its derivatives are generally administered intravenously and occasionally intramuscularly. Arsenic is found in the blood soon after an intravenous injection of one of these preparations and is rapidly eliminated by the kidneys and bowels but may be retained in the tissues for a longer time after an intramuscular injection.
  • Arsenic is used homicidally much more frequently in India than in any other country, as it is cheap, easily available and can be easily concealed in the food. A very small quantity of arsenic is sufficient to produce fatal effects, although cases have occurred where much larger quantities were given for homicidal purposes. Mass homicidal poisoning in which persons have been affected has sometimes occurred from arsenic having been administered by an individual in some article of food.
  • Arsenic may also be administered along with some other poisons like powdered glass, copper sulfate, mercury, opium, nux etc.
  • Instead of administering a single fatal dose of arsenic at once, the murderer in western countries usually administers small doses over a long period in order to produce the symptoms simulating gastroenteritis and thus to conceal the crime.
  • Arsenic is sometimes employed as an abortifacient, both as an internal administration and as a local application in the form of paste or ointment to abortion sticks.
(Contributed by Dr Sudhir Gupta)

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