The 4th Annual Alexander Awards: Best Tox Reading of 2013

Alexander Gettler The coveted Alexander award is named in honor of Alexander Gettler (1883-1968), the chief toxicologist with the Office of the Medical Examiner of the City of New York during the first half of the 20th century. Gettler was a key figure in the development of modern forensic toxicology. By the way, Gettler will certainly be a key figure when a documentary based on Deborah Blum’s book The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York is broadcast in early January on the PBS series “American Experience.” To be eligible to win an Alexander, an article or paper must touch on some aspect of medicine or toxicology. It must also be freely accessible on the web, and not locked up behind some firewall or subject to restricted access. Dr. Mehmet Oz is despised by many medical professionals as little more than a snake oil salesman. (Green coffee bean extract, anyone?) However, few would deny that, for better or worse, he is today one of the most influential figures in American medicine. Michael Specter’s mesmerizing, critical portrait of Dr. Oz in The New Yorker highlighted the many sides of this fascinating personality. With the publication of the most recent update to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been broadened considerably, meaning that more children and adolescents will be diagno...
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical long form journalism medical toxicology Source Type: news