This paper presents the study of 132 cases of poisoning received in the Dept of Forensic Medicine of M.P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat for postmortem examination (PME) over a period of one year. Out of 826 autopsies done during this period, 132 (15.98%) cases were that of poisoning. The cases were analyzed in terms of various epidemiological parameters, based on information recorded in the proforma prepared for this purpose. We concluded that the majority of victims were married Hindu males from rural areas, and belonged to low socio-economic strata. Most of the victims died within 1-6 hours of consumption of the poison. Suicidal cases were commoner than accidental cases. No case of homicidal poisoning was noted in the present study.
Chemical analysis of viscera was done in 115 (87.12%) cases (snake bite cases excluded). During the period of the study, we could get the chemical examiner's report in 98 (85.21%) cases. Insecticides topped the list, while snakebites were second in the list of fatal poisoning. This study differs from some of the recent studies in one important aspect: we could get the chemical examiner's report in a significant proportion of the cases. The reports were positive for poison/drug in 90 per cent of the cases.
