http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4145231.stm
The above story is about the exhumation of bodies to provide evidence that
they were murdered by their GP giving them excessive morphine.
In such a case how is morphine assayed and expressed (eg mg per gram of
tissue)?
What are the reference ranges for such measurements, how were they derived
and how robust are the data?
Is there a concentration of morphine which would show beyond all
reasonable doubt that the patient must have been given a fatal dose?
(Given that terminally ill patients who are habituated to opiates might
need very high doses anyway)
If the answer to the last question is no, why on earth are the police
wasting their time and taxpayers' money? (Not to mention the upset caused
to relatives.)
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