Reading a toxicology report means analyzing lab results to determine what alcohol, drugs, or other substances were present in a person's body, in what amounts, and what those findings may or may not say about timing, impairment, or cause of injury.

That analysis goes beyond spotting a positive result. A report may show ethanol, prescription medication, cannabis metabolites, or other substances in blood or urine, but interpretation asks harder questions: Was the sample collected properly? Does the number reflect recent use or lingering traces from earlier? Could medical treatment, metabolism, tolerance, or contamination affect the result? For example, a blood alcohol reading taken well after a crash may require retrograde extrapolation, and a urine test may show past drug use without proving active impairment at the time.

This matters in both criminal and civil cases because toxicology findings can shape liability, causation, and damages. In an injury claim, an insurer may argue that a positive report proves unsafe driving or reduces the value of the case. In Rhode Island, the pure comparative fault rule allows an injured person to recover damages even if partly at fault, but toxicology evidence can still change how fault is divided. Careful interpretation can also expose weak assumptions in a police report, challenge an allegation of impairment, or support a wrongful death or personal injury claim after a serious crash.