Arsenic Essay Research Paper Element 33 ArsenicAbstractArsenic — страница 4

with red wine laced with arsenic, (Stone 1994) and there are other, more lucky, victims who would say yes, intentional arsenic poisoning does occur in real life. Quite a few victims seem to be men. Among them include J.J. Walker, Mr. Maybrick of the Maybrick case, and an “unhappily married man”. Two out of three survived the effects of the poisoning, but recovery has been slow and may never be complete. J.J. Walker was first admitted to Providence Hospital due to severe pain in the abdomen. The doctors were at a lost as to what was causing the pain. At first, the doctors thought that the problem was appendicitis, but tests showed that it was far more serious. Walker had a low blood count for all three types of blood cells, but his bowel contents were normal. As doctors ran

tests to find out what was wrong, Walker’s condition worsened and his lower legs became paralyzed. Finally, the medics thought of poisoning and ran several tests; among them was a test for arsenic. It turned out that J.J. Walker had ingested arsenic, several times in rather large doses. Investigators were sent to Walker’s workplace and home but found no traces of arsenic. He was even assessed by a psychiatrist to see if he was suicidal and his wife was also questioned closely, but all searches came up empty-handed. After two months of treatment, the effects of the arsenic began to lessen and the paralysis that had traveled up to his chest retreated; though he still needed a cane to walk. During his stay at the hospital, Walker discovered that his best friend and his wife were

having an affair and that it was his wife that had poisoned him. Needless to say, the Walkers divorced. (Weaver 1995) The Maybrick case is another incidence of a husband being poisoned. It occurred over a century ago, but it still commands some interest. Mrs. Maybrick was convicted for murdering her husband with arsenic by the jury based on circumstantial evidence. Upon inspection however, it seems like Mrs. Maybrick should have been acquitted. Any points in the case that indicated her innocence were ridiculed by the judge. It was shown later that the judge was ailing from paretic dementia. The evidence against the wife was that she had bought arsenical flypaper and soon afterwards Mr. Maybrick became ill with excruciating stomach and intestinal inflammation. Arsenic was found in

his food and also around the house. However, the jury failed to recognize that Mr. Maybrick was a chronic arsenic eater, which would explain the arsenic around the house. Indeed, Mr. Maybrick had not eaten the food made by his wife the day that he became seriously ill. Along with other instances that showed the lack of evidence against the wife, Mrs. Maybrick should have been acquitted. (Flanagin 1995) Arsenic is extremely hard to recognize and sometimes takes doctors a while to discover the reason for a patient’s illness. In the case of the “unhappily married man”, the doctors thought that he was afflicted with Guillain-Barr?. For over a year they treated him for an illness he did not have. While he continued to worsen, they found he had hyperkeratosis, weak muscles, and

white transverse lines upon his nails. (see Figure 8-A) Arsenic was finally suspected and samples of the man’s hair, nails, and urine were taken to test for the poison. Arsenic was found in high concentrations in all three samples. In the hair, there was 97 mg/kg. Normal concentrations are 0.5-. 5 mg/kg. In the nails there was 150 mg/kg, while the normal amount was 4-10 mg/kg. The arsenic level in the urine sample was equally high compared with normal conditions. He was treated with intramuscular dimercaprol and eventually recovered but he was still on the recuperation agenda. The doctors were still unaware of the origin of the arsenic poisoning. Eventually though, his wife confessed to putting the deadly element in the form of an ant-killer in his meals because she wanted to

end their marriage and receive custody of their child. (Navarro et al. 1996) Though arsenic was the “poison par excellence,” toxicologists now know so much about it that it is unprofitable for the poisoner to use it. Indeed, most cases of arsenic poisoning nowadays stem from arsenic-tainted environments or handling substances contaminated by arsenic. (Bodin and Cheinisse 1970) Arsenic is a very potent poison that works quickly, especially when ingested in a fairly large dose. Just over a hundred milligrams of arsenic trioxide would kill. In a large dose, arsenic can kill fairly quickly and the victim would die before the start of the archetypal manifestations to the nervous system. Symptoms of arsenic poisoning include inflammation of the gastric and intestinal areas along