Dr. Steven E. Schutzer of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Dr. Bruce Budowle of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Dr. Ronald M. Atlas of the University of Louisville say in their guidance that, "Patients who believe that they have been a victim of a biocrime generally want both a medical and law enforcement response--that is, they want medical treatment, and they want the perpetrator to be found, prosecuted, and punished."
Bioterror crimes - real and hoaxes - are well known. Non-bioterror biocrimes include a laboratory technician who poisoned her coworkers by putting a laboratory stock of a harmful bacterium called Shigella dysenteriae (which causes dysentery) into muffins, the deliberate poisoning of salad bars in The Dalles, Oregon, with Salmonella typhimurium (which causes food poisoning) to skew an election for political gain, and the case of direct injection of HIV tainted blood as a weapon into an unsuspecting victim.
Physicians may be compelled by law to work with law enforcement as well as public health officials in investigating a biocrime, or they may wish to do so, with their patient's consent, to serve their patient's interests. Schutzer and colleagues' article provides an overview of the new field of microbial forensics and outlines how physicians should:
"Physicians can ultimately serve their patients by acting, in the traditional role, as a healer," say the authors, "and by working with public health and law enforcement entities to help prevent further attacks and to achieve justice. As with sexual assaults, identification and conviction of the attacker can bring closure and provide a degree of security to the patient."
Citation: Schutzer SE, Budowle B, Atlas RM (2005) Biocrimes, microbial forensics, and the physician. PLoS Med 2(12): e337.
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