Injectable. The drug is supplied as a chloride salt in ampules that must be mixed with sterile water before injection. It is a curare alkaloid derived from the South American plant.

Effects and Symptoms: Accidental overdose causes hypertension and respiratory failure. A rather high concentration of the drug remains in the liver for a short while after death.

Case Studies: Turbarine is a poison most often used by medical personnel and those who have access to restricted hospital drugs. The use of Tubarine as a homicidal poison was suspected in a series of eastern United States hospital deaths. The victims supposedly all had heart attacks, but when an empty Tubarine vial was found in an intern’s locker, the bodies were exhumed and tested for presence of the drug. The drug was detected in decomposed tissue and the intern was arrested, tried and convicted of first degree murder.