Forensic Toxicology in Death Investigation

Forensic toxicology is a highly specialized area of forensic science which requires expertise in analytical chemistry, pharmacology, biochemistry, and forensic investigation. The practicing forensic toxicologist is concerned not only with the isolation and identification of drugs and other pOlsons from tissues, but also with the interpretation of his findings for the medical examiner, coroner, or other legal authority. In our modern drug-oriented society the need for the services of a toxicologist is clear. The benefits received from medication are so well publicized that society tends to minimize the dangers and pitfalls. The American people spend over $9 billion a year on drugs. In 1971, the public spent approximately $5% billion on prescription drugs and about $3'12 billion for over-the-counter medications (Arena 1974). It has been estimated that there are as many deaths from drugs as from automobile accidents. During a I-year period at the Montreal General Hospital, for example, 25 percent of the deaths on the public medical service were the result of adverse drug reactions (Martin 1971). Estimates of deaths from adverse drug reactions in the United States range from 3,000 to 140,000 (Talley and Laventurier 1974). The cause of death in drug cases may range from a clear and obvious overdose, often substantiated by a suicide note, to a minor drugrelated pathological process which, over an extended period, leads to a general decline in health. The latter situation is rarely recorded in mortality statistics.