Forensic Toxicology: Meeting the Demands of Two Slaves-Science and the Law

摘要

The poisoning of living things takes two forms, accidental and purposeful, with both resulting in potentially disastrous outcomes. Whether poisoning results in aberrant behaviors, hospitalizations, or deaths, the field of forensic toxicology plays a key factor in relating analytical findings to correlation of effects. As a "forensic" science, forensic toxicology uses the principles of analytical chemistry to identify potentially causative agents and toxicology to offer mechanistic reasons for impairment, illness, or death with the distinct applicability of these sciences to matters of the law. In these respects, the practicing forensic toxicologist must understand the need for solid science that is research and empirically based as the core in order to meet the ever-increasing demands placed on the practitioner in the medico-legal setting.