Drug Analyses in a Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology

Abstract

Under Section 3 of the Coroner’s Act 1887 all deaths in England and Wales which are violent, unnatural or sudden, and where the cause of death is unknown, are reported to the Coroner. The Registrar of Births and Deaths may also require, for statutory reasons, deaths to be reported to the Coroner, when a doctor has not seen the deceased during the preceding 14 days or immediately after his death (Bowen, 1980). A pathologist may then carry out a post-mortem on behalf of the Coroner. The pathologist may require a toxicological investigation for drugs and other compounds. This is usually carried out by a laboratory run by the Government under the Home Office. However, if there is no criminal involvement, analyses may be carried out in a hospital or university department, such as a department of forensic medicine and toxicology. These may also be involved in other fields of drug analysis such as addiction screening, hospital overdose toxicology and therapeutic drug monitoring.