Question

Imagine that you work at the medical examiner's office for a major metropolitan city. As Chief Medical officer, you investigate suspicious deaths and provide toxicology services for the county. Unfortunately, it's been a busy week. In the past five days, seven people have died, all with similar symptoms. It is your job to examine the data and determine the cause of death for these victims. The first was a 12-year-old girl. Her parents said that she was awake in the middle of the night complaining of a stuffy nose and sore throat. They gave her an extra strength Tylenol and sent her back to bed. At 7am the next morning, the parents discovered that the girl had collapsed on the bathroom floor. An ambulance rushed the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. That same day, paramedics found the second victim unconscious on his kitchen floor after what they thought was an apparent heart attack. Sadly, the victim's brother and fiancée also collapsed later that night while the family gathered to morn his passing. Both had taken Tylenol to help them cope with their loss shortly before collapsing; neither survived.In the next four days, four other similar deaths were reported, all in the same neighborhood and all with similar symptoms. Are these seven deaths related? What is causing these people to die? It is your job to answer these questions before more deaths are reported.Symptoms exhibited by most patients:
(i)-Dizziness
(ii)-Confusion
(iii)-Headache
(iv)-Shortness of breath/rapid breathing
(v)-Vomiting
(vi)-Most deaths were very rapid, occurring within a few hours of symptoms.
Explain whether or not you think these 7 deaths are related, and what questions you would ask the families of the victims.

Answer 1

Answer:

There seems to be a definite association between these seven deaths as these individuals suffered from similar symptoms like headaches, dizziness, confusion, shortness of breath, and vomiting. Also, majority of these patients took Tylenol.  

The following are the questions that are needed to be asked from the victims' families or the caretakers:  

1. What was the frequency of consuming Tylenol by the victims before death?

2. Whether Tylenol was consumed immediately or sometime before the death?

3. One should inquire about the victims regarding previous medical history.