PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Piel, Jennifer
TI  - The Defense of Involuntary Intoxication by Prescribed Medications: An Appellate Case Review
DP  - 2015 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 321--328
VI  - 43
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/43/3/321.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/43/3/321.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2015 Sep 01; 43
AB  - The defense of involuntary intoxication has long been an exception to the general notion that intoxication is not a defense to criminal liability. The consumption of medications prescribed by a physician can form the basis of an involuntary-intoxication defense. In this article, I review cases where defendants relied on the use of prescribed medications for an involuntary-intoxication defense. The medications most frequently implicated by defendants are listed by name and by class. From the case law, I provide a summary of the defense and a review of the pitfalls of the defense to serve as practice pointers for forensic evaluators.