Death by Poison

​Poison has been used for many purposes since humans have existed, often for assassination or assassination attempts. Some of those make the news, the most recent being the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Authorities identified the nerve agent VX on his face, and video corroborated two women wiping a substance on his face before his collapse and death. VX is the most potent nerve agent, and was developed in the United States in the 1950s during the Cold War. It is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, and exerts its effects like organophosphate insecticides. Victims develop severe respiratory secretions, bronchospasm, muscle fasciculations, and seizures, and they can die from respiratory paralysis. The lethal dose is 30 mcg. A drop approximately the size of Abraham Lincoln's eye on a penny is enough to kill a human.Alexander Litvinenko became the first known victim in November 2006 of polonium-210-induced acute radiation syndrome. Mr. Litvinenko, a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, had fled the country after accusing his superiors of ordering the assassination of Boris Berezovsky, a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin. He suddenly became ill with several days of diarrhea and vomiting, and his condition worsened for several weeks. His blood and urine samples were sent to the UK Atomic Weapons Establishment where polonium-210 was detected. It was determined that the Po-210 had been placed in his tea. The median ...
Source: The Tox Cave - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs