Dean, Powers Practical Forensic Pathology and Toxicology

Practical Forensic Pathology and Toxicology is a companion to the authors’ original book on the subject, Forensic Toxicology: Mechanisms and Pathology.

This new volume addresses  issues that forensic pathologists face when confronted by the suspected or demonstrated presence of drugs or toxins in their cases. Since such considerations include the need for a basic understanding of the direct physiologic effects of potentially toxic agents , the authors highlight various connections and interaction between both forensic pathology and toxicology. The book is  written for both the practicing pathologist, and those in training, who may already have some knowledge of forensic medicine, but are on occasion faced with issues that reach beyond a basic  determination of cause and manner of death.

Pathologists are expected to provide informed, well-reasoned opinions explaining how a person died—which includes questions about any drugs, prescription medications or otherwise, that may have caused or contributed to death. As such, this  book looks at the direct physiologic effects of drugs and toxins, answering such questions as “Why does hypernatremia cause seizures?” or “Why can synthetic cannabinoids cause fatal complications, yet THC does not?” or the very timely “What is the mechanism by which an opiate overdose causes death?” Coverage centers primarily on the pathologic derangements and physiological consequences to the actions of drugs and toxins, and the cellular mechanisms by which those pathologic consequences arise.

Organized along an organ system approach, chapters are divided into major target organ systems and sections added in for those organs and tissues also affected. While some drugs affect more than one organ system—and some patients will have multiple drugs present—the book’s categorization and organization takes this approach to be readily usable for the reader. Case reports are included with additional patient data to show the effects of specific toxins and poisons both alone and in combination with natural disease. Color figures illustrate all aspects of drug or toxin impact on postmortem casework including the scene of death, the deceased persons, the organs and tissues affected.

Practical Forensic Pathology and Toxicology is an invaluable resource for practicing pathologists, toxicologists, and those training for those fields. It also serves as a useful reference for lawyers, judges, insurance companies, and other medical professionals who need to know, in light of what drugs are present  in a particular case, what such compounds do, and how their presence (or absence thereof) is—or is not—related to an individual’s death.