These tests are typically not available forensically from a private Dr.'s office or a hospital lab. Hospital labs are prohibited by internal policy from performing any outside tests for legal purposes. Affiliate offices are available nationwide.

Forensic CDT/GGT Test for Detection of Heavy Alcohol Use

Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin (CDT) testing is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a biological marker for heavy alcohol consumption. Heavy alcohol consumption for most people is the consumption of multiple drinks on a regular (e.g. daily) basis. Heavy alcohol consumption for a period of one week or longer can elevate CDT protein levels above normal.

Elevated CDT is an indication that excessive drinking is disrupting the normal chemistry of the liver. It also means that excessive drinking may be affecting other body organs, especially the brain, and thus may be harmful to the person's medical or social / family functioning.

Cases of alleged habitual drunkenness can be objectively substantiated with the use of this test. However, as with many laboratory tests, not everyone is a responder. Up to approximately 10 to 20% of heavy drinkers may pass this test. Therefore, as with any forensic evaluation, the absence of evidence (a Negative test result) does not prove to condition does not exist. Contrarily, a Positive test indicates (with a 95% specificity) that heavy alcohol consumption on a regular basis does exist.

The CDT protein level typically gradually returns to normal over 2 to 4 weeks following cessation of alcohol consumption, depending on the level of elevation. The CDT test is extremely sensitive to alcohol relapse and is an excellent tool to determine even minor relapses. Since CDT can remain elevated for two to four weeks, monitoring for relapse would not be needed more often than once approximately every four weeks.

CDT testing is very specific (>95%) for heavy alcohol use. CDT is the most reliable forensic alcohol abuse test to date. The CDT test yields useful objective forensic information for detection of chronic heavy alcohol use to aid in the identification of alcohol related diseases, including cognitive deficits and changes in mental functioning, as well as monitoring during treatment for alcohol abuse. CDT testing has been well documented in the peer reviewed medical literature as a marker for chronic alcohol consumption. It is extensively used in D.U.I. cases.

Typically, heavy alcohol consumption of a chronic nature (weeks to months) can also elevate GGT liver enzyme. GGT is a liver enzyme that responds to excessive, chronic metabolic burden placed upon the liver. Elevated GGT can be associated with persons who are alcohol dependent. GGT is used conjunctively with the CDT test, as it is the first liver enzyme that frequently is elevated in persons engaged in heavy alcohol use excessively and/or chronically.

CDT testing has been used by our office for court cases, mainly Family Court, for years and is widely accepted as a valuable forensic laboratory test. Currently, our office is the only forensic provider of this test. In addition to performing the test, clients are also offered a consultation as to how the test works, interviewed to ascertain their current level of alcohol consumption, pattern, and type, and the quantitative results of the test are correlated with the reported alcohol consumption profile. The comprehensive work up typically also includes an interpretation of the findings as to the health and wellness consequences of the level of alcohol consumption the test indicates.

The CDT test is an objective forensic tool to determine if the level of alcohol consumption is at an unhealthy level (physically and mentally) specifically for the person being tested. The cost of the test is $180 and includes the CDT test, the GGT liver enzyme test, and the comprehensive work up. The blood specimen is collected in a Serum Separator Tube (SST), spun (centrifuged), and sent to our Charleston, SC lab. Results are typically available in one to three days.

Gunshot Residue Forensic Services

Forensic Drug Testing of Infants, Children and Teens

Drug use among teenagers in the United States is a serious concern. In 2003 more than 7.5 million individuals aged 12 to 17 reported having used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetime. In the same year students in grades nine through twelve indicated that 40.2 percent of respondents had used marijuana, 12.1 percent had used inhalants, 11.1 percent had used MDMA (also known as ecstasy), 8.7 percent had used cocaine, 7.6 percent had used methamphetamine, 6.1 percent had illegally used steroids, 3.3 percent had used heroin, and 3.2 percent had injected an illegal drug one or more times during their lifetime.

Furthermore, 9.9 percent of student respondents nationwide tried marijuana for the first time before the age of 13, 28.7 percent had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property during the year preceding the survey, and 5.8 percent had used marijuana on school property one or more times during the 30 days preceding the survey.

Parents can rest assured with a quick test at Dr. Robert Bennett's office. In just 10 minutes, we can test for recent use of the ten most common abused drugs: cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstacy, opiates, oxycodone, PCP, barbituates, benzodiazepines, and methadone. Hair tests and more expansive panels are also available (see Forensic Hair Testing).

Forensic Infidelity Tests

According to the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, approximately 50 percent married women and 60 percent of married men will have an extramarital affair at some time in their marriage. And since it is unlikely that the people having affairs are married to each other in every case, the current statistics on the percentage of married couples who cheat on each other means that someone is having an affair in nearly 80 percent of marriages.

Dr. Bennett can tell you if you're the victim of such an occurrence with his seminal fluid and microscopic sperm analysis.