For the next few months I’ll post “5 things criminal attorneys should know about …” and highlight some areas of medicine that often cross into the criminal fields. I did this series a few years…
Two Black Eyes, also known as Raccoon’s eyes, is a sign of a skull fracture and does not necessarily indicate blunt force trauma to the face. Because this type of skull fracture is often missed…
Was the Defendant Drunk or Concussed? If a person who is charged with a DUI and has a concussion, a review of the medical records by an expert can determine if the defendant has either:…
“What symptoms of Heroin withdrawal would affect the defendant’s ability to form intent?” Heroin use is a common thread within the criminal system and can become relevant in cases where the defendant’s ability to form…
Detection Time of Methamphetamine: Compared to cocaine, methamphetamine’s effects can be more intense and last longer. The half-life for methamphetamine (the time period required for the body to decrease the blood level of methamphetamine by…
Blood concentrations for methamphetamine use as a prescribed medication are typically in the range of .02-.05 mg/L for a person taking methamphetamine prescribed for attention deficit disorder, weight loss or narcolepsy. Drug abuse with methamphetamine…
Screening: Methamphetamine is typically detected through urine and blood screens that offer positive or negative (“qualitative”) results. A positive result on a screen often leads to a confirmatory test that will use more sophisticated laboratory…
The last thing I want to cover is abbreviations. Reading a doctor’s handwriting alone is hard enough, and it is so much harder if it’s filled with unknown abbreviations. It is literally impossible to understand…
For more information on the hospital course, other documents to look for include: Operative reports: These are generated if the patient undergoes any surgeries, and a separate report will be generated for each operation. Look…
When performing a medical records review, if you’re looking for a list of injuries, as you commonly are in criminal law, you will look at the emergency department (ED or ER) reports and/or the ambulance…
If you’re looking for the “story” of how the patient entered the hospital and what happened while he/she was there, go to the Discharge Summary (Caution: This is different than the Discharge Instructions, which are…
On the day prior to his arrest, Mr. Smith went to see a psychiatrist and was placed on Wellbutrin. The doctor claimed to have considered the interactions of his medications and the hepatotoxic potential, yet…
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