FORENSIC PHARMACY EXPERTS

Adverse outcomes from prescribed medications are often more complex than the result of prescribing the wrong drug for the diagnosis. Adverse effects, toxicities and contraindications can commonly be predicted by and are related to the pharmacology of the drug. Drug interactions causing treatment failures or undesired adverse outcomes are increasingly the result of complicated drug metabolizing enzyme or transporter processes, some of which have a genetic variant component. A pharmacology expert will be a resource to make factual statements identifying association or causation in a medication litigation case. More importantly, the right expert in a medication related case will thoroughly evaluate and convey the pharmacologic basis for the clinical outcome. Importantly, the same expert may also determine that an adverse medication event was idiosyncratic or otherwise unrelated to the prescribing, dispensing or administration of a drug.