Forensic Toxicology Concepts and Applications in Pharmaceutical Medicine

Abstract

Forensic toxicology is a branch of toxicology which aligns with other disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology, clinical chemistry, contributing to medico-legal investigations of adverse effects like death, poisoning and drug abuse. The focus of forensic toxicology is geared towards understanding the innovative techniques and design technologies that are used in analyzing and interpreting the results of available collected samples. Forensic scientists are not very worried of the legal endpoints of an investigation but on the causal effect of the substance of exposure. The three main objectives of forensic toxicology are to establish the presence and identification of toxicant and determine whether these substances contribute to the adverse event. To establish on substances that may affect an individual, behaviour and the ability to make rational judgement. Forensic toxicology elucidates substances that are not complaint with employment regulation or substances of potential abuse. The field of forensic toxicology encompasses the measurement of alcohol, drugs and other toxic substances in biological samples, together with the interpretation of the results especially for medico-legal applications. A toxicological analysis can be done with different types of biological samples. The aim of this review paper is motivated to give an overview of the concept of forensic toxicology and its application in toxicity study and medicine. The different aspects of dead, living samples, and procedures for analysis has been discussed, and the use of substances of abuse in forensic toxicology has been well exploited.