Death associated with the use of the synthetic cannabinoid ADB-FUBINACA

Abstract

Synthetic cannabinoids have been found in herbal incense products for the last several years. We report the rapid death of an individual that was certified as synthetic cannabinoid-associated. The autopsy blood specimen was extracted by a liquid-liquid extraction at pH 10.2 into a hexane-ethyl acetate mixture and analyzed by a generalized synthetic cannabinoid LC-MS-MS method. For this case report, we briefly describe the instrumental analysis and extraction methods for the detection of ADB-FUBINACA in postmortem blood, toxicological results for the postmortem blood specimen (ADB-FUBINACA, 7.3 ng/mL; THC, 1.1 ng/mL; THC-COOH, 4.7 ng/mL), case information and circumstances and pertinent findings at autopsy. The cause of death was certified as coronary arterial thrombosis in combination with synthetic cannabinoid use. Manner of death was accident.