when doing an autopsy, how can they determine the cause of death to be an “accidental” overdose rather than a regular one?

Question

when doing an autopsy, how can they determine the cause of death to be an “accidental” overdose rather than a regular one?

In: Other

Answer 1

There is no such thing as a regular overdose. Presumably an overdose will either be accidental or intentional. From a forensic perspective, an accidental overdose will be one that has serum concentration of the acting agent near to a therapeutic/recreational dose while if the serum concentration is far, far beyond what could remotely be considered normal it can reasonably be presumed that the overdose was intentional.