Background: Formalin is an aqueous solution of formaldehyde. It is a protoplasmic poison and causes coagulation necrosis and tissue fixation.Case: A 19-year-old girl was brought for autopsy to the mortuary of JSS Medical College, Mysore.Conclusion: Formalin is an unusual poison to be ingested for suicidal purposes due to selective availability and its strong taste and odor.

Background: Herbs can be toxic and may be even life-threatening. The mixture of different plants and herbs made by traditional healer and their canvassing on the street attract general people. Here, we report four cases of severe herbal poisoning. Case presentation: In 2008, four young people rushed to DMC Hospital in the early morning with a history of taking herbal medicine (tonic) on that night for gratification. About 3– 4 h after ingestion, they experienced repeated vomiting and abdominal pain. Two patients deteriorated within the hours after admission with restlessness, progressive unconsciousness, and died soon after. The other two patients absconded from the hospital, including the person who prepared the tonic. Screening of the tonic by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry did not reveal toxic components. Discussion: The suspected herbs used for the preparation of that tonic were Santalum album (Chandan wood) which contains Santalol and other etheric oils; Plantago ovata (Ispaghula Husk) containing diverse alkaloids, phenols, etc.; and Mimosa pudica which is the common Mimosa and contains the alkaloid Mimosine. The nature of the tonic and source of the intoxication could not be finally elucidated. Conclusion: The described cases of unknown herbal poisoning in Bangladesh highlight the need for awareness campaigns targeting the population at risk.

We present a case of non-fatal poisoning with oleander decoction in a 24-year-old pregnant woman.Nerium oleander, an evergreen ornamental plant, native in the Mediterranean, is cultivated worldwide particularly in warm temperate and subtropical areas.Elsewhere, where the shrub is not frost-tolerant, e.g.in Central and Western Europe, it may be grown as a conservatory plant.1 The plant is grown throughout Iran and is more common in eastern and southern provinces. Application of oleander as a pharmaceutical product, rodenticide, and insecticide has been widely recognized.

Background: A very dangerous activity among youth and young adults is the indiscriminate mixing and sharing of prescription drugs, often in combination with alcohol or other drugs. The effects of these combinations of substances can be fatal.Case Report: A 28 years old adult male with alleged history of diazepam and paraquat poisoning was admitted with complaints of chest discomfort, epigastric pain, vomiting and drowsiness. The patient developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and expired on the next day. To conclude, diazepam even though considered to be a safer drug, has risk of drug abuse and is fatal when taken in overdose along with other central nervous system depressants. Paraquat is a highly toxic compound widely used as herbicide and ingestion of the drug causes death due to respiratory failure.Conclusion: The present study emphasizes on the proper surveillance of diazepam intake in known psychiatric patients and strict rules must be enforced by the Government on marketing of herbicides and pesticides.

Background: Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide and agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Despite its low toxicity profile, there are rare studies on its fatal poisoning. In this report, we described clinical and postmortem findings of a fatal imidacloprid poisoning. Methods: A 33-year-old female presented to the emergency department with a history of deliberate consumption of unknown insecticide. On admission, she was drowsy and hypotensive with tachycardia and miotic pupils. Despite supportive therapy, she continued to be unconscious, with severe metabolic acidosis and developed a cardio-respiratory arrest and expired. Results: A forensic autopsy was performed. The result of the toxicological analysis showed that imidacloprid concentrations were 267. 8 μ g/mL in femoral blood, 144. 5 μ g/mL in stomach content, and 292. 3 μ g/mL in bile. Conclusion: Although imidacloprid is generally less toxic to humans high concentrations in biological samples could be considered lethal. Therefore, the educational programs about its toxicity should be considered for health care providers

Background: In spite of successful interventions and safety measures to prevent accidental poisoning in pediatric population, it contributes significantly to childhood morbidity and mortality.Methods: This Retrospective study comprising of 204 cases of poisoning was conducted during the period of a year, from 1st January 2013- 31st Dec 2013 at Forensic Medicine Department, Shri M. P. Shah Govt. College, Guru Gobindsinh Govt. hospital (GGG) Jamnagar.Results: The incidence of poisoning was more in age group of 2-3 year. Majority of victims were male as compared to females. The most common place of incidence of poisoning was home followed by playground. Most common route of poisoning was oral followed by poisonous animal bites and sting. All poisoning cases were accidental in nature. No suicidal or homicidal case was found in our study. Poisoning cases were more common in the months of April and October than in the rest of the months. The most common agent involved in pediatric poisoning was kerosene.Conclusion: Based on observation most of the cases were accidental poisoning in young children so precaution like proper storage and proper disposal of chemicals and parental awareness regarding these issues could sufficiently reduce the prevalence of poisoning among children.