Levamisole-adulterated cocaine: Two fatal case reports and evaluation of possible cocaine toxicity potentiation

Abstract

Levamisole has been identified as a cocaine adulterant in the United States since 2002. Although there is a variation in the percentage of levamisole in cocaine samples between European countries, measurement of levamisole in human samples of cocaine users has become increasingly important. To our best knowledge, only five deaths are reported (one twice) as a result of complications secondary to levamisole-tainted cocaine and none of these cases reports the post-mortem levamisole concentration. In this article, we present the post-mortem levamisole concentrations in fluids and tissues in two young cocaine users, dead after levamisole-adulterated cocaine intake. With the dearth of levamisole reported concentrations in literature, this particular report is of interest to the forensic toxicological and pathological communities.This article aims to be a supplementary alert to aware the risk that may occur using levamisole-adulterated cocaine and an incentive to publication of toxicity reports and new researches involving the combination of levamisole and cocaine.