Analytical problems with putrefaction in a fatal case involving ergotamine and pentazocine.

A 29-year-old male drug addict was found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Analysis of the acid-hydrolized blood showed the presence of pentazocine and two characteristic compounds that contained L-phenylalanine and D-proline, linked together by peptide bounds. It was shown that the latter two components could emanate from the peptide part of ergotamine under the conditions used. It seemed likely that, at the time of analysis, pentazocine and ergotamine were present at concentrations far above therapeutic values. A third component in the blood could not be identified.