Phencyclidine a 5-year retrospective review from the New York City Medical Examiners Office.
We report here a 5-year retrospective review of autopsy cases from the New York City Medical Examiners Office that demonstrated phencyclidine (PCP) in the blood. There were a total of 138 cases. There were 52 deaths because of mixed drug intoxication the blood PCP concentrations in these cases ranged from <1 to 598 ngmL. There were 80 violent deaths in which PCP was quantified in the blood but was unrelated to the cause of death. There were five nonviolent deaths in which PCP exclusively was detected. In four of these, there were preexisting medical conditions that could also have contributed to death. In these, the highest PCP concentration was 361.3 ngmL, a concentration lower than seven of the individuals in our violent death category. This suggests that lower concentrations may be fatal with comorbid conditions.