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From Death to Death Certificate: What do the Dead say?

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Abstract

This is an overview of medicolegal death investigation and death certification. Postmortem toxicological analysis, particularly for ethanol and drugs of abuse, plays a large role in the forensic investigation of natural and unnatural deaths. Postmortem drug concentrations must be interpreted in light of the autopsy findings and circumstances. Interpretations of drug and ethanol concentrations are important for death certification, but they also may be important for other stakeholders such as police, attorneys, public health practitioners, and the next-of-kin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Farmington, CT, USA

    James R. Gill

  2. Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    James R. Gill

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  1. James R. Gill
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Correspondence to James R. Gill.

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Previously presented at the ACMT Seminars in Forensic Toxicology: A Legal “PotPourri” in Denver, Colorado, December 2015.

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Gill, J.R. From Death to Death Certificate: What do the Dead say?. J. Med. Toxicol. 13, 111–116 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-016-0551-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-016-0551-y

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