Alain Baert

Sexual assault and MDMA: the distinction between consciousness and awareness when it comes to consent

In France, the term chemical or drug-assisted submission is usually defined as the rendering of a person vulnerable by the surreptitious administration of an active substance with the purpose of prejudicing the person or his/her possessions. If the harm is sexual assault, establishing the victim’s submission involves both proving that a dangerous substance was administered, providing material evidence of the infraction (the assault), i.e. the detection of traces in a physical examination and samples, and proving the absence of consent. We report the case of a woman who was sexually assaulted after having been surreptitiously administered methylenedioxymethamphetamine. In this special case, the woman remained in a state of vigilance (conscious) throughout, so there is doubt about whether or not she consented. In other words, the ability to consent is debatable.

Death related to consumption of Rauvolfia sp. powder mislabeled as Tabernanthe iboga

Powdered roots of iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) contain ibogaine, an alkaloid that has been used to treat addictions. We report the case of a 30-year-old woman who died after ingesting a powder labeled as Tabernanthe iboga she had bought online. Analysis of the powder revealed the absence of ibogaine but the presence of toxic alkaloids (ajmaline, yohimbine and reserpine) found in Rauvolfia sp. plant species. An original and specific LC-MS/MS method developed to quantify ajmaline, yohimbine and reserpine showed respective concentrations of 109.1ng/mL, 98.2ng/mL and 30.8ng/mL in blood, and 1528.2ng/mL, 914.2ng/mL and 561.2ng/mL in bile. Moreover, systematic toxicological analyses of biological samples showed the presence of oxazepam at therapeutic concentration and cannabinoids. Death could be attributed to ingestion of a substantial quantity of crushed roots of Rauvolfia in association with concomitant drug withdrawal.

Suicide by self-injection of chlormequat trademark C5SUN®

Chlormequat is a quaternary ammonium used as plant growth regulating agent. We report here the first suicide case involving a 45 year-old farmer man who intentionally self-injected C5SUN(®), containing chlormequat and choline. An original liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry method (LC-HR-MS), using a hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometer, was developed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of chlormequat in different biological matrices. Toxicological analyses of post-mortem samples highlighted the presence of chlormequat in the blood (2.25mg/L) and the urine (4.45mg/L), in addition to ethanol impregnation blood (1.15g/L). The route of administration (subcutaneous injection) was confirmed by the detection of chlormequat in the abdominal fat sample (chlormequat: 10.04mg/g) taken from the traumatic injury location, as well as in the syringe found at the death scene, close to the victims body. Based on the results of these post-mortem investigations, the cause of death was determined to be consecutive to cardiac dysrhythmia and cardiac arrest following chlormequat self-injection.