Jaxson Haug
Pharmacogenetics examines how various DNA genes behave on their own following drug delivery. Due to advancements in molecular genetics and genome sequencing methods, pharmacogenetic research has been carried out recently. In addition to serving medical needs, pharmacogenetics can be a useful tool for post-mortem toxicological data interpretation clarification, which is frequently essential for identifying the cause and manner of death. In addition to bringing pharmacogenetics to the attention of the forensic community, the aim of this systematic literature review is to provide a workflow that forensic toxicologists might employ when determining the cause of death in situations involving drug use or misuse. This study shows how the scientific community is required to put in a lot of effort to provide evidence in forensic practise, showing how this investigation might become a crucial tool both in civil and forensic contexts. The search engine utilised the following keywords: (pharmacogenetics) AND (forensic toxicology); (pharmacogenetics) AND (post-mortem); (pharmacogenetics) AND (forensic science); and (autopsy). 125 items in all were gathered. This systematic review covered 29 of these papers. 25% of the included studies were case reports (n=7), while 7 out of 21 total research were original papers. Codeine, morphine, and methadone were the medications that had been investigated the most, followed by antidepressants (tricyclic antidepressants and venlafaxine). Additionally, all studies emphasised the significance of a pharmacogenetics research in drug-related mortality, particularly in situations when drugs of abuse were not overdosed. This study emphasises the value of forensic pharmacogenetics, a branch of toxicology that is currently little understood but is very useful in situations of sudden death, overdose deaths, drug-related deaths, and complaints of medical misconduct.