Report of the Ministry of Health / Colony of Singapore.

  • Singapore. Ministry of Health.
Date:
[1964]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Ministry of Health / Colony of Singapore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    326/336 (page 314)
    Blood, Urine, etc. for Alcohol The number of cases and specimens this year showed a decreased (241 cases involving 395 specimens as compared with 289 cases involving 469 specimens. Among the specimen were 220 blood, 150 urine and 25 other specimens such as vomits or stomach washout. Of the 241 cases, no alcohol was detected in slightly over a quarter of the cases while post-mortem cases accounted for about one-third. The majority of the cases were in connection with simple drunkeness of traffic accidents. In 13 cases the blood specimens were found to be clotted and thus no quantitative analysis was done as no reliable result could be expected from a clotted specimen. This was regretable since the amount of alcohol in the blood in such cases might be of value in court proceedings. Besides the specimens from the local hospital, eight specimens were also received from Sabah, three specimens from the British Forces and two from a local private dispensary. In the latter case the person affected wanted his own doctor to take samples of his blood and urine. Clinical Specimens The 488 specimens analysed under this heading were made up of the following: Opium alkaloids 57 Lead 55 Lead and Arsenic 5 Arsenic 7 Fluorine 364 488 The majority of the specimens were urine specimens. Those for fluorine content were check samples taken from workers engaged in the treatment works of the Water Department, Public Utilities Board. The number of samples submitted by the Opium Treatment Centre and the General Hospital for opium alkaloids was approximately half of that for previous year. Over the past few years, the number of these samples has been steadily decreasing and could possibly indicate the decreasing number of opium addicts. Approximately 61 per cent of the 57 specimens were found to contain both morphine and codeine. In six instances morphine only was detected. In one case, a patient, a former morphine addict, was suspected of taking opium although he claimed to have not taken any. Analysis of his urine revealed the presence of codeine only thus supporting his claim. The patient had in all probability, taken compounds containing codeine. Specimens for suspected arsenic poisoning included urine, hair and nail clippings. In one case, although no arsenic was detected in the nail clippings, 4.2 per cent arsenic was found in the Chinese medicinal pills,