A drug or alcohol overdose may be self-inflicted, accidental, or the product of a malicious act on an unsuspecting target causing severe illness or death. Every substance has a unique set of characteristics, from effect size to metabolizing efficiency. Therefore, an overdose of a substance or a combination of substances will yield information that requires a forensic toxicologist’s expertise and subtle knowledge of the workings of drugs. An expert must correctly evaluate the likelihood of drug interaction with a person’s unique chemical makeup. The forensic toxicologists at the Forensic Panel have exceptional experience in such intricate and complicated analyses.
Death investigations do not consider the contribution of drugs in a vacuum; forensic toxicologists must use autopsy and other input from the forensic pathologist and crime scene investigators to assist a formulation of the case. The Forensic Panel’s range of expertise includes exceptionally qualified forensic toxicologists and forensic pathologists who conduct interdisciplinary assessments as a matter of their routine responsibilities in medical examiner’s offices.
The Forensic Panel’s unique peer-review adds oversight to all examiners of a death investigation, ensuring careful weight of forensic toxicology evidence alongside forensic pathology evidence. Due to the many possibilities surrounding an overdose, The Forensic Panel’s peer-review ensures the requisite diligence for the objective appraisal of all options.