United States Department of Transportation
i
Comparative Evaluation of Forensic Toxicology Findings, 2012-2016
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2020-12-01
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[PDF-1017.00 KB]
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Abstract:The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute's (CAMI) Forensic Toxicology and Biochemistry Research Laboratories provides forensic toxicology services for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). In addition, the FAA's Autopsy Program Team obtains autopsy reports for fatal aviation accidents. These autopsy reports may include toxicology results that have been performed by laboratories other than the FAA. The toxicology results reported by CAMI and those released in external autopsy reports have not previously been compared; therefore, a five-year period was examined to compare these results. Information from these cases is stored in a database called ToxFlo (TM). ToxFlo (TM) was queried for the period from 2012-2016. During this time, CAMI received autopsy reports for 1,415 fatalities and specimens from 1,338 victims. In 756 of these cases, external laboratories performed toxicological analyses. Of the cases that had both CAMI and external toxicology results, 227 cases were positive for one or more drugs and were selected for this study. Overall, CAMI reported more positive results than external laboratories in five groups of drugs (Impairing/Controlled, Routine over-the-counter (OTC), Cardio Active-Related, Rx Impairing, and Other Drugs). CAMI reported 1,051 positive results from 166 different drugs, while external laboratories reported 327 positive results from 82 different drugs. The Impairing/Controlled Group had the most positives for both CAMI and external laboratories. The relative number of positives between CAMI and the external laboratories was greatest for the Cardio Active-Related Group. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, Sominex) was the most commonly detected drug by both CAMI and the external laboratories. Ethanol was found positive (>= 40 mg/dL) in 22 cases by CAMI and the external laboratories. Blood quantitative results were compared for diphenhydramine and ethanol.
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Content Notes:CAMI Aerospace Medical Research Division Project No. 2013- AAM-611-CHE-10013
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