Criminal Poisoning
More than 2.4 million human poison exposures were reported to U.S. Poison Centers in 2006. The majority (83.3%) were unintentional exposures. Of the remaining intentional exposures, 0.4% were categorized as malicious: a category used to define patients who are victims of another person's intent to harm them. This data set is only the tip of the iceberg, as most criminal poisoning cases are not reported to poison centers, but rather by law enforcement officials and forensic pathologists.
The use of poison as a murder weapon has a documented history spanning back centuries. Numerous agents have been utilized recently in criminal poisonings, including cyanide, radiation, arsenic, thallium, and ricin. In many cases, it is difficult to correctly diagnose the etiologies of these poisonings. 
The Toxicologists at the UVa Division of Medical Toxicology are routinely called upon to consult with law enforcement officials, forensic scientists, attorneys, and physicians in the diagnosis, treatment, and conviction of cases of criminal poisoning. They are actively engaged in research into criminal poisoning issues, and often invited to lecture on the topic. Dr. Christopher Holstege, MD, was part of a team of U.S. physicians who diagnosed Yushchenko's dioxin poisoning [read: U.S. Doctors Treated Yushchencko: Secret Team Helped Find Dioxin Poisoning. Washington Post article, March 11, 2005].
Dr. Holstege is lead editor of The Clinical Dissection of a Criminal Poisoning, to be published in 2008 through Jones and Bartlett Publishers. This book is intended to aid health care professionals and law enforcement officials in their quest to correctly diagnosis criminal poisoning.
NOTE: Parties wishing to consult with experts at the UVA Division of Medical Toxicology should contact Heather Collier, 434-924-5185 or hlc8e@virginia.edu.
For further information:
Bechtel L, Holstege CP: Criminal Poisoning: Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault. Emerg Med Clin NA 2007;25:499-525.
Holstege CP, Dobmeier, S: Criminal Poisoning - Munchausen's by Proxy. Clinics in Laboratory Medicine 2006;26(1):243-254.
Dr. Mark Kirk, MD. Spy Story: Acute Radiation Syndrome. ToxTalks newsletter article, December 2006.