Clinical Chemistry, Vol 42, 1337-1341, Copyright © 1996 by American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Role of the clinical toxicologist in court

RT Chamberlain
SmithKline Beecham Clinical Labs, Tampa, FL 33617, USA.

The clinical toxicologist may play a role in court when issues arise concerning therapeutic drug monitoring, drug abuse, environmental chemicals, or toxic torts, where the traditional forensic toxicologist may not have expertise. Beyond being credible in court, the toxicologist's testimony must be based on good scientific evidence. The ruler for measuring good scientific evidence had previously been the Frye Test, or the general acceptance test. In 1993, however, the US Supreme Court established four balancing tests that should be used for the admissibility of scientific evidence. Although the ruling is binding only in federal courts, state courts are expected to follow. When testifying, the clinical toxicologist should be aware of other court rules and expectations. As with all testimony, objections from opposing counsel can be raised to disallow the presentation of evidence by a toxicologist. The toxicologist is usually used to establish causation of injury, whether from negligence, prenatal injury, or environmental chemicals. Several examples are presented.