TY - JOUR
T1 - Issues in the interpretation of postmortem toxicology
AU - Byard, Roger W.
AU - Butzbach, Danielle M.
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - From the earliest times humans have utilized a wide variety of manufactured and natural substances to treat disease [1], to facilitate religious ritual and to augment recreational activities. In modern Western societies the range of prescription, non-prescription and illicit drugs that are available is probably greater than in any previous time and so the challenge for toxicology laboratories to identify specific substances is considerable. Cases that involve drugs that are encountered in forensic practice are varied, ranging from inadvertent deaths due to the direct toxic actions of a drug, to exacerbations of underlying disease, and to suicides and homicides.
AB - From the earliest times humans have utilized a wide variety of manufactured and natural substances to treat disease [1], to facilitate religious ritual and to augment recreational activities. In modern Western societies the range of prescription, non-prescription and illicit drugs that are available is probably greater than in any previous time and so the challenge for toxicology laboratories to identify specific substances is considerable. Cases that involve drugs that are encountered in forensic practice are varied, ranging from inadvertent deaths due to the direct toxic actions of a drug, to exacerbations of underlying disease, and to suicides and homicides.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864924215&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s12024-011-9278-x
DO - 10.1007/s12024-011-9278-x
M3 - Editorial
C2 - 21918893
AN - SCOPUS:84864924215
SN - 1547-769X
VL - 8
SP - 205
EP - 207
JO - Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology
JF - Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology
IS - 3
ER -