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Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology,clinical chemistry to aid medico legal investigation.

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Presentation on theme: "Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology,clinical chemistry to aid medico legal investigation."— Presentation transcript:

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2 Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology and other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology,clinical chemistry to aid medico legal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use.toxicologyanalytical chemistrypharmacologyclinical chemistry Alphonse Bertillon was a French criminologist and anthropologist who created the first system of physical measurements, photography, and record keeping that police could use to identify criminals.

3  In 44BC following the assassination of Julius Caesar the attending physician proclaimed that of the 23 wounds found on the body ‘only one’ was fatal.  In 1247 the first textbook on forensic medicine is published in China which among others things documents the procedures to be followed when investigating a suspicious death.  Sir Edward Richard Henry developed the print classification system that would come to be used in Europe and North America. He published Classification and Uses of Finger Prints.

4  Urine  Blood  Hair  Saliva  Gastric contents  Vitreous humor  Liver  Brain  Lung

5 Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)  Valuable tool for determining the source of DNA recovered from damaged, degraded and small biological samples.  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited maternally.

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8  Biological material e.g. blood, semen or saliva  Fibers  Paint Chips  Glass  Soil & Vegetation  Accelerants  Fingerprints  Hair  Impression evidence e.g. shoe prints, tire tracks or tool marks  Fracture patterns.  Glass fragments or Adhesive tape pieces  Narcotics

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10 Clinical toxicology focuses on effects of overdose of substances in patients by  Accidental poisoning  Intentional overdosing of medications  Drugs of abuse  Household chemicals  Or various industrial chemicals of non clinical nature

11  Approx 3.5 million people were poisoned in 2006  In 2007, 29,846 (74 percent) of the 40,059 poisoning deaths in the United States were unintentional  In 2007, 93 percent of unintentional poisoning deaths were caused by drugs. Opioid pain medications, such as methadone, hydrocodone, or oxycodone, were most commonly involved, followed by cocaine and heroin  In 2009, unintentional poisoning caused about 708,318 Emergency Department (ED) visits  In 2009, poisonings led to $93.4 billion in medical and productivity costs

12 Among important toxicological principles that are applied in evaluating the poisoned individual are  Exposure and aspects related to reducing absorption  Dose response considerations  Target tissue and systemic effects  Chemical interactions  Chemical antagonism as a management approach  Acute versus Chronic effects

13 1 ) Supportive Care (to sustain the vital signs)  A Airway Clearance  B Breathing maintenance  C Circulation enhancement  D Decontamination 2) Treat the patients depressed mental status 3) Rule out or treat hypoglycemia

14 4) Obtain history of the exposure  What substance was exposed  How much was consumed or exposed  Route of ingestion or exposure  Time since exposure 5) Identify Signs and symptoms of poisoning Breathing rate, heart rate, dilation of pupil, Fits, injuries or diseases associated to the symptoms 6) Neurologic Examination Slurred speech, imbalancement, tremors unconsciousness, seizures, confusion, headache


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