Methadone Intoxication

Often, a medical examiner will rely on toxicology or toxicological findings to determine cause of death. Toxicology, or the study of poisons, refers to the labwork performed on the body post-mortem. Occasionally, the cause of death will be “methadone intoxication.” I received a call today from a client who wondered why the medical examiner listed “methadone intoxication” as the cause of death, as they had not noticed the family member to be “intoxicated” as that word is generally used when referring to alcohol intoxication. Intoxication means that the drug has reached “toxic” or poisonous levels. The medical examiner could have also listed methadone overdose as cause of death, or methadone poisoning. It would have meant the same thing.