Antidepressants and Antihistamines: Core Concepts

Course Description:

This course is part of our Core Concepts Series, which reviews potentially impairing drug classes from three scientific perspectives: Pharmacology, Forensic Toxicology, and Clinical Toxicology. A future supplemental series will add law enforcement and DRE perspectives for each drug class as well.

Despite their high prevalence in the driving population, antidepressants and antihistamines receive relatively little attention in the context of potential driving impairment. Knowledge of the different subclassifications of these drugs, their pharmacology, their role in drug-drug interactions, and the type of toxic effects and impairment possible are crucial to understanding how these drugs may, or may not, be relevant in forensic cases.

This course will explore all of these topics, and more, providing learners with the foundations necessary to understand how antidepressants and antihistamines may be relevant in their respective casework.

Recommended Learners:

LEO
DRE
Toxicologist
Attorney

Dr. Jessica Ayala

Dr. Jessica Lynn Ayala is currently a Toxicology Supervisor at the Houston Forensic Science Center. Dr. Ayala has over a decade of toxicology experience working in public and private toxicology laboratories analyzing biological specimens for clinical, medicolegal, human performance, and drug facilitated investigations.
See full bio.

Amy Miles

Amy Miles is the Director of the Forensic Toxicology Program at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and has over 20 years of experience in forensic toxicology. Amy provides expert court testimony and interpretation of laboratory reports for coroners, medical examiners, attorneys, and law enforcement officers. See full bio.

Dr. Ahmed Mostafa

Dr. Mostafa is a board certified emergency physician currently practicing in the state of New York. He received his medical degree from Cairo University, Egypt, and has completed his residency training in Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, as well as Crozer Chester Medical Center, PA.See full bio.

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Course Content

ADAH Pharm 1- Clinical Uses of Antidepressants and Their Mechanisms of Action

ADAH Pharm 2- Types of Antidepressants and the Pharmacology of Antihistamines

ADAH Forensic Tox

ADAH Clinical Tox 1: Histamine, Drug Receptor Binding, and Antihistamine Toxicity

ADAH Clinical Tox 2 – Antidepressants, Serotonin Syndrome, and Bupropion

Antidepressants and Antihistamines: Core Concepts

Course Description:

Recommended Learners:

LEO
DRE
Toxicologist
Attorney

This course has been reviewed by ABFT and determined to be acceptable for submission to the ABFT for continuing education credit.

Dr. Sabra Jones

Sabra Jones is a board-certified Forensic Toxicologist with a focus on transportation safety. Sabra is the Regional Toxicology Liaison for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Region 5, serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Sabra has worked in transportation safety at the Federal Aviation Administration and driving impairment, in addition to other areas of forensic toxicology at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office. See full bio.

Dr. Dayne Laskey

Dr. Laskey is an associate professor at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. He received a PharmD from the University of Connecticut, completed his pharmacy practice residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, and his clinical toxicology fellowship from the Georgia Poison Center. See full bio.