WELL-RENOWNED RESEARCHER AMONGST SURGE IN KETAMINE-FUELLED DEATHS By Kristy Kristensen
Yesterday evening, at approximately 12.02am, Doctor Arvid Maelstrom was found unresponsive on the floor of his laboratory by a fellow peer. He was 47, and determined to have passed as soon as paramedics arrived to the scene.
Toxicology reports released earlier today by the Gotham medical examiner's office found a high concentration of ketamine in his blood. They have declared that the "acute effects" of the controlled substance, an anaesthetic with psychedelic properties, are what killed him.
Ketamine is a powerful substance that has become increasingly popular as an alternative therapy for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health disorders.
The autopsy states "The level of ketamine present in blood samples and the patient's previous history with drug use is enough to suggest the death was assisted by respiratory depression."
The majority of the report has remained bidden at request of close members of his consult out of respect for the deceased, but what has been released to the public seemingly concludes an answer to the question of his death in itself.
Dr. Maelstrom had become a well respected voice in the community, most recently having been a keynote speaker at the BSL Summit for his study in protein-nucleic acid interactions at the single-molecule level, using real-time optical microscopy with the goal to understand the molecular mechanisms governing DNA repair.
He had also worked alongside the White House in previous excursions to increase participation from students in STEM fields, and been a proud advocate for increasing access to postgrad education for low income families.
In an telephone interview with The Gazette, Arvid's sister, 29, talked about his ongoing struggles with drug addiction.
"We encouraged him to seek help," She said, "He said he was getting better. The doctors reported he'd successfully completed his rehabilitation programme."
Elise stated that when coming out to meet him in Gotham, Maelstrom had seemingly gotten better, and showed no signs of relapse; suggesting perhaps that he had recently begun using again after coming under stress from work.
Arvid had been tackling a large project with a five year tenure at the S.T.A.R Labs branch in Gotham City, studying protein cells.
She says he had, however, recently been showing signs of reclusivity, and antisocial behaviour, an outlook Elise claims was unusual and out of the ordinary.
"He's never been the most social person, about as much as you'd expect for an academic researcher with a direct sense of humour, but everything suddenly felt so hush hush."
We were unable to reach out to other members of his family and faculty for comment.
Following reports, the police department have now closed the investigation, but detained one of Maelstrom's peers, 26, for attempting to access the site without the appropriate permission.
The ongoing prosecution suggests that she is being charged with assault of an officer, evasion, and antisocial behaviour. Journalists with the Gotham Gazette who were on site have reported that the young lady, seemingly weary and with her face covered by a deep red scarf, snuck through the yellow tape surrounding the site, and was held outside of the entrance to the building. There are reports that she seemed frantic in her unheard explanations to the officer, and that she proceeded to elbow him in the chest to escape, insisting that she needed to see Maelstrom. Olivier reports that she was heard exclaiming in a deteriorating sort of way, and that she wasn't totally comprehensible.
She was later seen being escorted out, red faced but without handcuffs, and has ignored attempts at contact for further clarification on the issue, seemingly having become unreachable.
The Gotham Police Department have refused to comment on this beyond suggesting that "people in shock act out in different ways", but have said on Maelstrom's death: "This is sadly the consequence of poor intervention in drug dependency. We are in liaison with the department of Drug Administration to ensure that we can improve Gotham City's recidivism rates, but after due investigation can confirm that the cause of death of Doctor Maelstrom was a ketamine-based overdose. Maelstrom's personal physician has taken personal responsibility, and has stated that in his annual check-up this year, Arvid was exhibiting symptoms of a relapse."
The GP at Gotham Clinic has refused to comment further, stating that this is both his own fault and the fault of the system at large.
The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert in June warning about the dangers of drug dependency in the onset of psychiatric disorder.
If you yourself are struggling with substance abuse or your mental health, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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🦇 author's note— credit to dr. eric greene, ph.d who is a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at columbia university; i was googling keynote speakers at stem conferences for inspiration and character building, and at the midwest dna repair symposium in iowa he is listed as one, having done a study into the same nucleic acid interactions at the single molecule level that i mentioned. your study seems very fascinating sir.
i'm not used to article writing but i was aiming for some sort of ye oldie "highly regarded" news publication vibe? like i imagine "the gotham gazette" would be written in the same font as something like the new york times, or the washington post.
this will probably get unpublished and re written at some point, but in the meantime!! i'm still working on the first chapter of act 1— oops. i also tried to lean into the "two perspectives- what happened and what's written" method, because i imagine?? lots of reporting can be biased, and use certain language to manipulate an idea. so if something written here doesn't match with chapter 1— well then!!
