Forensic Toxicology Blog
Evidence-based articles about toxicology, expert testimony, legal developments, alcohol, drugs, and forensic testing.
What Does a Similar EEG Frequency Tell Us About Midazolam and Dup15q?
Two groups can show a similar EEG frequency for different reasons. Researchers can use that resemblance to test a biological hypothesis, while an individual EEG still needs clinical context. How the study made the comparison Frohlich and colleagues compared EEG recordings from children with Dup15q syndrome with recordings from typically…
What Did a Home Remedy Add to the Investigation of an Infant’s Positive Urine Screen?
A urine screen can narrow an exposure investigation. Finding the source also requires a history of what the person received, including products that never appeared on a prescription list. What the clinical record showed In a published case, a 45-day-old infant was unusually drowsy and had pinpoint pupils. A urine…
Why Daily Drinking and Alcohol Quantity Tell Different Stories in a Medication Survey
“Drinks every day” describes frequency. A researcher trying to understand medication and alcohol exposure also needs to know how much people drank and when they took the medication. What the two surveys found A study of adults aged 60 to 79 in two German national surveys estimated that daily drinking…
What a Blood Smear Added to a Case of Progressive Involuntary Movements
A clinical record may contain a suspected syndrome, a finding that supports it, and a genetic test that leaves the precise cause unresolved. A case report of progressive involuntary movements illustrates how those pieces fit together. What the tests added The authors reported unusually shaped red blood cells called acanthocytes…
What a Medication List Can Miss About Doses Actually Taken
A medication list describes a regimen on paper. It can leave unanswered whether someone missed a dose, changed the timing, or took a different amount. A study in rural Luzhou, China, examined the gap using questionnaires and outpatient records. What the two sources measured The study included questionnaires involving 100…
How a Pharmacy Survey Defined Whether a Month of Medicine Was Affordable
Finding a medication in stock and being able to pay for a course are different questions. A Sri Lankan pharmacy survey measured availability and estimated affordability separately. Why the researchers expressed cost in days of wages The investigators surveyed 80 community pharmacies. For chronic conditions, they estimated the cost of…
Why Formulation and Timing Matter in an Olanzapine Pregnancy History
A record may list that a patient previously used a long-acting injection while describing oral use during a later period. A pregnancy exposure history needs the dates and formulations separately. What the case series documented The authors described three patients who had previously received long-acting injectable olanzapine. Two became pregnant…
When a Recording Revealed a Pitch Problem the Musician Couldn’t Hear
A person may experience a change in performance that others notice first. In a published case, a sound director told a violinist that he was playing flat. The violinist could not hear the discrepancy himself. What the recording and the timeline added The report describes the change during treatment with…
What a Benzodiazepine-Receptor Brain Scan Measured in an ADHD Study
A brain scan using a tracer can measure where that tracer binds. A behavior checklist measures a separate set of observations. A study of 35 children with ADHD compared the two. What the scan and checklist recorded The researchers used iodine-123 iomazenil SPECT, which images tracer binding at benzodiazepine-sensitive receptor…
What a Brief Lorazepam Response Can Tell You About a Longer Clinical Course
“Responded to lorazepam” can describe a change during one examination or a sustained improvement over days. A published report involving recurrent catatonia in a patient with Prader–Willi syndrome shows why a timeline should specify which response occurred. What changed during the examination? The clinicians observed better verbal responses after a…
Does an Essential Medicines List Tell You What a Clinic Had in Stock?
A medication’s presence on an essential medicines list and its availability at a particular clinic are different facts. Researchers in Sofala Province, Mozambique, compared a list of medicines for mental healthcare with what they found during facility visits. What the researchers counted In July and August 2014, the team checked…
What Symptoms After Stopping Zolpidem Can Add to a Medication Timeline
When symptoms emerge during medication use, the clinical course after stopping can add context. A case report involving high-dose zolpidem shows why it is worth tracking individual symptoms rather than treating recovery as a single yes-or-no outcome. Some symptoms improved and others continued The authors reported that a patient developed…
