Blood Toxicology

certain amount of fascination with such medical reports. A large part of this would be owing to misguided beliefs and media reports of such toxicology tests done on athletes, celebrities and other well known people especially when there are suspicious circumstances surrounding a person’s demise. However, one has to remember that blood toxicology tests are not just meant to investigate suspicious deaths and that they also serve several other purposes.

Reasons for Blood Toxicology

A blood toxicology is a valuable investigative tool since the use of this test allows us to determine the level and presence of drugs and other substances in the blood. Furthermore, the test goes beyond the usual legal drugs to look at levels of certain illegal drugs. A toxicology report can also confirm the presence of alcohol as well as other substances. Thus, the uses are vast and such a toxicology test can become invaluable in many situations. In the case of a car accident, for instance, a blood toxicology would not only help determine whether there was alcohol involved, but would also help test the person in case of overdose of a particular drug. This is also a test which has its use in the emergency room when patients are brought in exhibiting signs of overdose. A blood toxicology test will tell us about the kinds of drugs and substances that may be determined by means of a blood sample. Besides this you also have other kinds of toxicology tests, such as those using urine samples. In the case of habitual drug users, such blood toxicology tests may be undertaken with a view of determining whether the person has remained free of those substances.

Preparation for Blood Toxicology

Since the test is used so as to let the doctor determine the level of drugs, preparation would be of no use in an emergency situation. However, in other cases, you should talk to your doctor about the specific drugs you would be tested for in the case of your blood toxicology screen and come clean about current drug usage. This would include even prescribed medication since there are certain varieties of medication which, depending on the dose, could make that blood toxicology test turn false positive.

Procedure to Conduct Blood Toxicology

Think of the blood toxicology test as any other blood test since it would involve taking the required sample by means of a needle and attached tube. The screening for drugs and other substances like alcohol using the collected blood sample would take place at the laboratory.