A non-fatal intoxication and seven deaths involving the dissociative drug 3-MeO-PCP.
Forensic science international June 1, 2017 Anna Johansson, Daniel Lindstedt, Markus Roman et al.
3-Methoxyphencyclidine (3-MeO-PCP), a phencyclidine analogue with anesthetic, analgesic, and hallucinogenic properties, appeared on the illicit drug market in 2011. This paper reports a non-fatal intoxication and seven deaths involving 3-MeO-PCP in Sweden from March 2014 to June 2016. The non-fatal case involved a 19-year-old male with drug problems and depression who presented awake but tachycardic, hypertensive, tachypnoeic, and catatonic, later developing fever, lactic acidosis, psychomotor agitation, and hallucinations; he fully recovered after 22 hours of intensive care. Blood concentrations of 3-MeO-PCP at admission were 0.14 μg/g, declining to 0.04 μg/g after 17 hours, with an estimated half-life of 11 hours.