Discerning the Facts of a Legal Case

All case-winning legal arguments have one thing in common: they are transparent and informed presentations of facts that best explain the circumstances of the crime or civil issue brought before the court. However, on occasion, it may be difficult for laypersons to decipher the meaning and significance of each piece of evidence presented before a judge. In such cases, the skills of an expert witness might be necessary.

Prescription Drugs in Light of Forensic Toxicology

Medicine has always utilized pharmaceuticals in the treatment of their patients. Drug recommendation and administration are both part of the complex web of patient treatment. Generally, these substances in virtually all forms of matter are aimed to yield eradication of a disease. If this were not possible, the drugs would at least relieve the ailment's symptoms.

Facts About the Dangers of Lead Poisoning

Lead is one of the naturally-occurring metals that can prove very poisonous to humans, especially when ingested or inhaled over an extended period. Lead buildup in the body could cause various illnesses including cancer and even brain damage. What do you do when you suspect that someone you know has been poisoned by this substance?

Lead poisoning is very unlikely to be new; experts believe that mankind has been using lead for more than 6,000 years. Children are at the highest risk of contracting diseases from lead exposure because they are more sensitive than adults and they usually put things in their mouths, particularly objects that may be contaminated by lead dust.

If you suspect that you or a loved one is suffering from lead poisoning, see a doctor immediately. When lead poisoning tests prove positive and you decide to file a case for investigation and penalty, you might as well seek the help of a highly-qualified medical expert witness.

Consulting a reputable toxicology expert witness is necessary to obtaining a professional opinion on causation. Toxicologists have extensive knowledge and experience on the nature and effects of toxins and poisons including chemicals, pharmaceutical products, metals, and alcohol.

As professionals, toxicologists can conduct thorough analysis or scientific investigation and present an unbiased report after research for purposes of litigation. Through this method, the court will be able to determine whether or not there is negligence on the part of the defendant.

Why You Need a Toxicology Expert Witness

In a nutshell, death investigation uses forensic toxicology to identify the cause of death. In this discipline, toxicologists usually study the concentration of substances ingested by a person and their effect to the body. Blood and hair samples are frequently used to detect the chemicals present in the system. In fact, a 10 ml blood sample is enough to verify the presence of a toxic substance. When it comes to hair samples, toxicologists would refer to the hair follicle as it is useful in determining medium to long-term substance abuse.

A deceased person's gastric contents may also show undigested substances that have been ingested before death. It is also possible to come up with a rough estimation on the time of death depending on the state of digestion of stomach contents.

A toxicology expert witness strengthens evidences when criminal cases are brought to court. They provide a detailed analysis of the substances found during the autopsy and even on the samples collected by the investigators. The outcome of the case largely depends on how accurate the interpretations are. Plaintiffs or defendants will have to seek the services of a toxicology expert witness to have reliable documentation needed for proper litigation. They may even ask the toxicologist to provide testimony before the court.

Toxicology Expert Witness Can Affect Case Outcome

In a companion case of Exxon Mobil v. Ford et al, both sides must have been nervous when a toxicology expert witness testified. After all, $1.65 billion in compensation was at stake. Although the toxicology expert was just one of the many experts called at that time, his testimony surely have contributed to the outcome of the case.

As a background: dozens of Jacksonville, MD households had sued Exxon Mobil for an undetected gas leak from one of its service stations that contaminated water wells in the area. The households filed two lawsuits against Exxon Mobil, including the $1.65 billion companion case. After the oil company lost both cases, they elevated them to the Maryland Court of Appeals.

In a legal case involving chemicals, a toxicology expert is generally called in to support or refute any evidence presented. He or she examines affected individuals, reviews medical reports, and works with legal authorities, among others. In this case, the toxicology expert recommended annual tests for certain ailments that costs up to $2,000 per year for each respondent.

However, the Maryland Court of Appeals also found that the “expert testimony generalized that all Respondents faced a significantly increased risk of developing a future disease, without providing individual assessments of any Respondent.” That finding partly contributed to the Court’s reversing the decision of the $1.65 billion companion case and sending it back to the lower court for a new trial. 

What a Toxicology Expert Witness Can Do

In William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, a character declares, “If you poison us, do we not die?” That line still rings true today, as more and more incidents are reported where poison caused the death or serious injury of a person. The 2012 data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a total of 17,622 children under six years were reportedly exposed to harmful ingredients in a wide range of products, such as cosmetics, pain medications, cleaners, and pesticides.

Tracing the source of these incidents is necessary so the public can be advised to avoid said sources accordingly. Tracing the toxicity source, however, is a job that a layperson won't be able to do on his own. This is a job that only a toxicology expert can accomplish. Toxicology experts combine their knowledge on three branches to determine the cause of poison exposure: medicine, chemistry, and biology.

These experts conduct several tests to arrive at the most accurate result. Unlike in crime shows where toxicology experts seem to come up with results in an instant (almost as if they used magic) in real life, the process is much longer. If a person is exposed to a toxic substance, the toxicology experts will have to get a tissue sample, urine sample, and blood sample, and getting all these examined takes time to determine the exact cause.