IN IN - Jasmine McNew, 20, Found Dead in Home - New Albany, 6 Sept 2019.

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CSIDreamer said:
No, it doesn't. And the drugs in her system are curious. Olanzapine is an antipsychotic, citalopram is an SSRI. Also, hyponatremia is dangerously low sodium.
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I just can't believe this was not a crime. The amount of time LE spent in the home after she was found dead doesn't really help me to believe that it wasn't homicide either.
 
She could have fallen down some stairs or in the bathtub/shower or something like that as well. Here's the thing - no one does this alone. Who was there with her?
He said he was careful to use the word "complications from"vs overdose which tells me she didn't have lethal or unusual amounts of these drugs in her system, but perhaps prolonged use or combining them with alcohol or each other lead to the hyponatremia. The blunt force trauma seems like it was enough to kill her, confusing the manner of death. This is such a weird case. I am so sorry you are not getting all the answers @bfogg. We see so many cases here that end unexplained, and they are the most heartbreaking. May the holidays be as bright as possible for you and Jasmine's little one. Know that if there is truth to be uncovered here, it won't stay hidden forever.
 
Blunt force trauma without a crime being committed seems bizarre. Objects don't set themselves in motion without a physical cause.

All I can think is that something fell on Jasmine in a devastating accident. Whatever happened, it's so sad that it took the life of this well-loved young woman and left her child motherless. My sympathies to her family over the holidays.
 
CSIDreamer said:
No, it doesn't. And the drugs in her system are curious. Olanzapine is an antipsychotic, citalopram is an SSRI. Also, hyponatremia is dangerously low sodium.
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Olanzapine is commonly prescribed for bipolar disorder (or schizophrenia). Citalopram is for depression, anxiety, OCD among others. Methamphetamine is prescribed for ADHD. I don’t think this is all that strange a combination of drugs to have in ones system at the same time, but the hyponatremia threw me for a loop. Then I found this study on Olanzapine in a recent medical journal: Hyponatremia with Olanzapine - A Suspected Association
And then there’s this one about citalopram: https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(17)30920-8/pdf

So on one hand, there might have been some negligent prescribing going on, if 2 of the 3 medications she was on carried an elevated risk of hyponatremia—or at least it seems like possibly she wasn’t made aware of the potential side effects or interactions of some of her medications...?

This report on her COD just seems so...inconclusive to me. And the blunt force trauma being mentioned as a contributing rather than primary factor is odd—the only way I could see characterizing blunt force trauma that way is if perhaps JM, in a weak and confused state, fell down a flight of stairs and was thus injured to an extent which left her unable to attempt to contact anyone for help—but that’s just conjecture as I don’t know what kind of layout her home had (it may not even have had stairs).
Something about this COD report just doesn’t sound right to me... IMO/MOO
 
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Some good points above by @realanastasia, but allow me to add a few comments from a pharmacist perspective:

1) Methamphetamine is not a drug used for ADHD, but an illicit drug not available by prescription. Prescription drugs are amphetamine and/or dextroamphetamine which are structurally similar but different to methamphetamine.

2) I'm not too convinced that her olanzapine and citalopram caused her hyponatremia, considering that she also had dehydration (this is known as hypovolemic hyponatremia). Olanzapine has a very small risk of hyponatremia (low sodium). SSRIs including citalopram have a greater risk than most atypical antipsychotics but the risk is still relatively small. However, what's crucial to note is that in these cases, typically the hyponatremia is secondary to SIADH, which causes water retention. This is known as hypervolemic hyponatremia, whereas Jasmine had hypovolemic hyponatremia (that is, dehydration with low sodium). Of note, olanzapine more commonly causes drowsiness, dizziness, and orthostatic hypotension which all do indeed increase risk of falls, however.

3) Most common cause of hypovolemic hyponatremia is vomiting and diarrhea, where you lose both water and salt. Methamphetamine toxicity causes vomiting (and less so, diarrhea).

To me, I think the key here is the methamphetamine overdose. That in and of itself could have caused enough vomiting to induce hypovolemic hyponatremia especially if she was already dehydrated from inadequate water intake. Was there evidence that she had been vomiting recently? If so, this paired with drowsiness/dizziness from olanzapine would have disoriented her enough to stumble and fall, leading to the blunt force trauma. My understanding is that blunt force trauma does not necessarily mean someone else was involved, but could just mean you fell and hit an object (or fell down stairs).

IMHO, her unfortunate death is most likely accidental.
 
I recall a recent case where a young woman gauged our her own eyes while under the influence of meth.

Law enforcement clearly spent a lot of time at this scene, and I’m sure that their initial assumption was that her death was caused by homicidal violence.

I think it’s entirely plausible that she had some sort of bad reaction, and inflicted those injuries on herself. It’s not common, but there is clearly precedent for it.

We’ll see.
 
I just feel if something fell on her or she fell down from intoxication, that wouldn't be such a head-scratcher. There is also the question of whether Jasmine is known to have had medical reasons for these substances or not. I want to be sure the family knows that WS is the least judgemental place they will find - Jasmine's drug or mental profile is nothing we are going to flinch at nor does it make her less valuable or her death less important. I would really like to know why the family does not think the drugs were her primary cause of death and how New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey is sure her death was not criminal in nature.
 
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Vail said:
There is also the question of whether Jasmine is known to have had medical reasons for these substances or not.
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Yes, I was wondering the same thing. Olanzapine and citalopram (SSRI) is not a combination I've ever seen before or would ever recommend. For one thing, that combo can trigger more manic episodes. Furthermore, it would increase the risk of a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia. If I saw that combo at work I would not approve it and would contact the doctor to get more info.

If she was diagnosed with one of either
  • Acute depressive episodes in bipolar I disorder
  • Treatment resistant depression (major depressive disorder in patients who fail 2 separate trials of different antidepressants
then olanzapine with fluoxetine, another SSRI, may have been indicated. This combo HAS been approved and does not increase the risk of fatal heart arrhythmia. So why in the world would she be prescribed citalopram when a much better and safer alternative is available? I just don't see a competent doctor prescribing that. Knowing her mental health and prescription drug history would definitely help put the pieces of the puzzle together. Had she tried and failed literally every combo possible and this was a last resort? Or was she borrowing someone else's medications because she had misdiagnosed herself and thought these drugs might help?

For whatever reason, she had those two Rx drugs in her system, and the combination could certainly drive a person to mania and paranoia. That paired with methamphetamine is a very dangerous combo! She very well may have had hallucinations, delusions and paranoia that caused her to inflict harm upon herself.
 
scriabina said:
Some good points above by @realanastasia, but allow me to add a few comments from a pharmacist perspective:

1) Methamphetamine is not a drug used for ADHD, but an illicit drug not available by prescription. Prescription drugs are amphetamine and/or dextroamphetamine which are structurally similar but different to methamphetamine.

2) I'm not too convinced that her olanzapine and citalopram caused her hyponatremia, considering that she also had dehydration (this is known as hypovolemic hyponatremia). Olanzapine has a very small risk of hyponatremia (low sodium). SSRIs including citalopram have a greater risk than most atypical antipsychotics but the risk is still relatively small. However, what's crucial to note is that in these cases, typically the hyponatremia is secondary to SIADH, which causes water retention. This is known as hypervolemic hyponatremia, whereas Jasmine had hypovolemic hyponatremia (that is, dehydration with low sodium). Of note, olanzapine more commonly causes drowsiness, dizziness, and orthostatic hypotension which all do indeed increase risk of falls, however.

3) Most common cause of hypovolemic hyponatremia is vomiting and diarrhea, where you lose both water and salt. Methamphetamine toxicity causes vomiting (and less so, diarrhea).

To me, I think the key here is the methamphetamine overdose. That in and of itself could have caused enough vomiting to induce hypovolemic hyponatremia especially if she was already dehydrated from inadequate water intake. Was there evidence that she had been vomiting recently? If so, this paired with drowsiness/dizziness from olanzapine would have disoriented her enough to stumble and fall, leading to the blunt force trauma. My understanding is that blunt force trauma does not necessarily mean someone else was involved, but could just mean you fell and hit an object (or fell down stairs).

IMHO, her unfortunate death is most likely accidental.
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I was going to post something very similar, but you beat me to it. From one pharmacist to another, I definitely agree with your comments/conclusions.
 
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CSIDreamer said:
I'm asking respectfully. Other than the meth, are these drugs you can get on the street? We're on the I65 corridor and it's just nuts.
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Yes, hypothetically you could get them on the streets but you’d have to be duped into buying them if you did. There really is no street value to the other drugs (besides the meth).
 
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I think what makes me suspicious about her death, besides the crazy amount of time that LE spent at her home once she was found dead, is the weird behaviour of someone (can't really say who, or my post will get deleted) really close to her. It was like nothing happened to Jasmine. This person was making "funny" posts on Facebook, not a single word about Jasmine. Did the family have a funeral for Jasmine yet? I wonder if this person attended.
 
Mia1956 said:
Maybe question the dr.
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It could also be a misunderstanding. Perhaps she saw two different doctors and was prescribed two different medications and was confused and took both. I've done enough med recs to see that hospitals and doctor offices rarely have accurate and updated medication lists for their patients, which can lead to prescribing errors.

You can get a lot of info from an Rx bottle! If available, I'd read the prescription bottles and find out if the Rx's were filled at the same pharmacy for Jasmine (or for someone else?), and check to see if the same doctor prescribed both meds, and if it's the same dr, go ahead and contact the office to inquire if one of the meds was supposed to be discontinued before starting the other. To be honest, the pharmacist should have already done that before filling them together (if they were both filled at the same pharmacy).

If there are no Rx bottles around the house then that may be an indication that the Rx's were not hers to begin with...

This might help solve part of the mystery but the bottom line IMHO is that methamphetamine probably played the greatest role in her demise.
 
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claudianunes said:
I think what makes me suspicious about her death, besides the crazy amount of time that LE spent at her home once she was found dead, is the weird behaviour of someone (can't really say who, or my post will get deleted) really close to her. It was like nothing happened to Jasmine. This person was making "funny" posts on Facebook, not a single word about Jasmine. Did the family have a funeral for Jasmine yet? I wonder if this person attended.
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Friday, Sept 13, was her memorial service.
 
I was reading through this tragic case and I stumbled into something I can kind of relate to? Without the meth, I've been prescribed those 2 medications at the same time, by the same psych, for quite some time.

I'm not very responsible I guess because I never read those descriptive inserts that pharmacies will give you with the meds. However, my family does as a way of helping me learn to self regulate and recognize problems. Things that I may not notice, they will.

So if Jasmine was having any type of reaction or side effects, she probably never noticed.

IMO ANAD
 
PunkCake said:
I was reading through this tragic case and I stumbled into something I can kind of relate to? Without the meth, I've been prescribed those 2 medications at the same time, by the same psych, for quite some time.

I'm not very responsible I guess because I never read those descriptive inserts that pharmacies will give you with the meds. However, my family does as a way of helping me learn to self regulate and recognize problems. Things that I may not notice, they will.

So if Jasmine was having any type of reaction or side effects, she probably never noticed.

IMO ANAD
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Thank you for sharing that. I never thought about medications having side effects you wouldn't notice.

I had a whopper of a reaction to prescribed meds. I ended up in the ER for 6 hours under observation.
 
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