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Despite its well-known sedative properties, chloroform is rarely used for drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) as its administration cannot be achieved without the victim's knowledge: we report an unusual case of DFSA using this solvent. A 26-year-old woman declared that her partner get her to sleep using chloroform the previous night. When she waked up at 3 am, her hands were tied. She immediately suspected violence and sexual penetration. Toxicological blood screening using a liquid chromatography-electrospray coupled tandem mass spectrometry method highlighted the presence of bamifylline and theophylline, two therapeutics of asthma. A screening method for volatile substances using a headspace-gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry method showed (i) the presence of chloroform in blood at a concentration subsequently estimated at 580 µg/L using an external calibration, and (ii) chloroform traces on a piece of a scarf brought by the patient and suspected to have been used to put her to sleep. These results were consistent with an exposure to chloroform by inhalation and demonstrate that there is no limit in the use of chemical weapons in DFSA.

Pregabalin is a drug for treating epilepsy, anxiety disorders and neuropathic pain. Cases of poisoning are rare, though some have been fatal. Concentrations of pregabalin in postmortem human samples and its distribution have very rarely been documented. As the literature is so scarce, we propose to report the concentrations in autopsy samples of 18 people who had been taking Lyrica(®), including one case of a mixed overdose involving pregabalin. Analysis was carried out using an original Hydrophilic Interaction LIquid Chromatography (HILIC) technique coupled with a high-resolution mass spectrometer (m/z 160.1334 ± 5 ppm). The sensitivity of the technique enables a quick and simple treatment of the samples by protein precipitation. The method was validated in the whole blood with detection and quantification limits of 0.025 and 0.060 µg/mL, respectively. Pregabalin was a likely factor in the cause of death in 3 of the 18 cases. In the other individuals, the concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 17.0 in the peripheral blood, 1.5 to 11.1 in the central blood, 126.6 to 2004.6 in the urine and 10.5 to 58.3 µg/mL in the bile, with median values of 5.6, 4.6, 534.6 and 17.7, respectively.

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