ABSTRACT
The cases and items that forensic scientists work on are usually, almost by definition, unpleasant. The case began on March 22, 1981, with a telephone call from the chief coroner saying that there had been a death of a child at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Toronto, possibly as a result of digoxin toxicity. Digoxin analysis for clinical purposes is quite routine in hospitals where it is performed on samples from patients receiving it as part of their treatment. The analysis is simply to determine the concentration in the blood; identification of it is not an issue. The hospital lab had found very high digoxin concentrations; instead of the 2–3 ng/mL expected in a baby that had been prescribed the drug, they found concentrations up to 70 ng/mL. A hasty review of the literature revealed that while there was considerable knowledge about digoxin as a therapeutic agent, very little was known about its use as a toxic agent.
