Ecstasy Related Death Reported in Local Paper

[1bRAVEheart1]

NSW Police said a 23-year old Indonesian student whose body was found in a Sydney wheelie bin had a high level of ecstasy in his blood. A police spokesman said toxicology tests found Michael Lie, who was discovered in the bin by garbage collectors at Surry Hills on January 5, had five milligrams per litre of ecstasy in his blood.

He said Mr Lie also had more than three times the legal blood-alcohol driving limit. This was not considered dangerous, but he said the level of ecstasy was considered high and pointed to a possible drug overdose. Police abandoned a murder investigation into Mr Lie's death when security footage revealed he had climbed into the wheelie bin after wandering around the street on New Year's Day.

Reported in Sydney Local paper, Wentworth Courier, Thursday 19th February 2004.

bRAVEheart

 

[apollo]

Pity it doesn't say what the declared cause of death was.

A high amount of MDMA and alcohol... Maybe he pushed his CNS + heart too far?

 

[ozbreaker]

If you're really keen to search i read it on news.com.au last week some time too.. apparantly after they viewed the security camera they just saw him stumble up to the bin and jump in and stay there..

Perhaps he dehydrated too much (alcohol + e's not a good combo for that) and just passed out in the bin and that was it for him?

 

[Bent]

Or depending on which way he ended up in the bin, and what was there he could have suffocated/asphyxiated??

 

[BigTrancer]

Umm... 5mg/L would be about 40mg in the entire approx. 8L blood system of a human adult, right?

BT...

 

[Paca]

If you passed out in a wheelie bin with the lid closed, would enough oxygen get into the bin? Maybe he could have asphyxiated that way?

Looking around the net, i found that most sites tend to say the human body has on average 5.6 litres of blood for a male. The concentration of MDMA then would seem quite low.

 

[melburn_madness]

security footage revealed he had climbed into the wheelie bin after wandering around the street on New Year's Day.

discovered in the bin by garbage collectors at Surry Hills on January 5

Does that mean he was in the bin for 4 days?
Then of course he would have died of dehydratation, humans cant go with out water for more than 48 hours right? And the alchol wouldnt have helped

if he had five milligrams per litre of ecstasy in his blood, i am not good with maths how many pills does that work out to?

 

[kwiksand]

Well depending completely on how long before he died it was taken and how it was administered, i.e if it all was released into the blood stream at once or not, and that the average moderate dose is 120mg?!? Then, its probably only one.

So many factors...

 

[Urbanhog]

deleted..... yes I argee it was a poor taste, I apologise.

(EDITED)

 

[superbabydoc]

According to this: Dantrolene and 'ecstasy'
people have either had hyperthermia and / or death from "plasma MDMA concentrations of approximately 0.1-1 mg/L".

I also found this paper, which gives ranges for a recreational doses of MDMA (75mg). They measured blood levels between 2-4 hours after administration and they ranged from 21 - 295 ng/ml (which I believe converts to 0.21mg/ml - 0.295 mg/ml)
Plasma, oral fluid and sweat wipe ecstasy concentrations in controlled and real life conditions

This poor fellow could have died from one of a number of causes, secondary to toxic levels of MDMA: hyperthermia, cardiac arrest, organ failure, brain haemmorhage, etc. There is nothing to be gained from speculating. I doubt it was simple dehydration though. The fact he climbed into a bin suggests he was confused and already in serious trouble when he did so. Poor lad.

P.S that comment above me is offensive and in very poor taste.

 

[BigTrancer]

I think the range 21-295 ng/mL is the same as saying 0.021-0.295 ug/mL... or... 0.021-0.295 mg/L.

BT

 

[wazza]

I remember reading about this guy. He was some cocktail bartender with skills that were like the movie "Cocktail" showed. Everyone interviewed (his friends) stated how this guy never took drugs and the like.

 

[superbabydoc]

ta BT, I figured someone in here would know for sure!