Fatal ingestion of Taxus baccata: English yew.

Elizabeth W L Brooks-Lim, Sandrine A Mérette, Barbara J Hawkins, Carolyn Maxwell, Andrew Washbrook, Aaron M Shapiro

Journal of forensic sciences 2022 Mar

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Poisoning from consumption of foraged alternative medicine products is an uncommon yet recognized occurrence. Here, presented is the case of a 40-year-old woman who was witnessed to collapse with labored breathing and subsequently died despite emergency medical personnel attendance and resuscitation efforts. Autopsy revealed the presence of plant matter that was visually identified as leaves from Taxus baccata - the English Yew. Isolation of alkaloids from the plant material and subsequent identification of the same alkaloids in the decedent's blood by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry indicated a toxicological cause of death. This case illustrates a collaborative team approach among subject matter experts to unexpectedly discover and then confirm the sudden death of this woman from T. baccata toxicity. © 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Citation

Elizabeth W L Brooks-Lim, Sandrine A Mérette, Barbara J Hawkins, Carolyn Maxwell, Andrew Washbrook, Aaron M Shapiro. Fatal ingestion of Taxus baccata: English yew. Journal of forensic sciences. 2022 Mar;67(2):820-826