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Strange story of an opiate death at Northwestern.

UD, an NU grad, is quite familiar with the library where, last May, a student was found dead.

The investigation into his cause of death took ages, which seems to me already strange, since it’s not all that difficult or time-consuming to find opioids in people.

When the NU student reporter asked the medical office for details, she was told that “More details [are] not available because the doctor who worked on Tsay’s case is no longer employed there.

Huh? Does the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office throw out all of a doctor’s files when the doctor leaves?

The report said that the student died of an “accidental opiate overdose.” How do they know it was accidental?

Margaret Soltan, September 20, 2010 4:29PM
Posted in: STUDENTS

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4 Responses to “Strange story of an opiate death at Northwestern.”

  1. Brad Says:

    Medical records generally would be the property of Northwestern and the dead student, not the doctor. There’s also pharmacy records.

    I don’t know what they mean by accidental. It could mean the person took one, got confused, took another, etc. It could mean a drug-drug interaction.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Thanks, Brad.

  3. Mr Punch Says:

    “Accidental” can also mean “possibly, even probably, suicide, but there’s no way to be absolutely sure so let’s not upset the family and the students (and maybe get some life insurance company all excited).”

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Yes, Mr Punch, I think you’re right that in many cases this is the way it goes. I have a good deal of sympathy for the motives behind it…

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