Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine

Dextropropoxyphene is an opioid analogue with antitussive and analgesic action. The drug is available widely in the market under various trade names and even without prescriptions. Its abuse is well known and deaths due to its use have been reported. A few fatal cases have been reported from India as well. We hereby describe 11 cases of death due to Dextropropoxyphene poisoning reported in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi during the period from March 2011 to August 2012. The majority of cases were males (90.9%) predominantly of the young adult age group. Six (54.5%) of those deceased, were belonging to North Eastern part of India, staying at Delhi. All were unemployed and majority of them were addicted to multiple drugs. In all the cases, cyanosis of finger nails, congestion of organs and pulmonary edema were observed. The details of the autopsy along with histopathological findings and its preventive measures are briefly discussed in this paper.