Alexander Gettler

Alexander O. Gettler was an American toxicologist who helped establish forensic toxicology in the United States and served as chief toxicologist for New York City's medical examiner.

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Forensic toxicology: The analysis of drugs, poisons, and other chemicals in biological samples for legal investigations. Gettler helped establish this discipline in the United States through medical-examiner laboratory work.
Toxicological analysis: The identification and measurement of potentially harmful substances in biological or environmental samples. This laboratory practice supplied the chemical evidence underlying Gettler’s forensic conclusions.
Charles Norris: An American physician who became New York City’s first chief medical examiner in 1918. Norris hired Gettler to build and direct the city’s toxicology laboratory.
Medicolegal death investigation: The investigation of deaths to establish identity, cause, manner, and circumstances for legal purposes. Gettler’s toxicology strengthened the scientific evidence available within this system.
Typhoid Mary: Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of Salmonella Typhi whose case became a major public-health controversy in New York. Gettler’s era brought toxicology and medical examination into wider debates over public health and legal authority.
New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner: The municipal agency that investigates deaths in New York City requiring medicolegal examination. Gettler led its toxicology work as chief toxicologist.
Spectroscopy: The study of how matter interacts with electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths. Spectroscopic techniques offered ways to identify substances in forensic samples.
New York City medical examiner system: The municipal system for investigating deaths that may involve violence, accident, or unusual circumstances. Its creation provided the institutional setting for Gettler’s long forensic career.
Cause of death: The disease or injury that initiates the sequence of events leading to death. Toxicological findings can identify poisoning as the initiating injury or disease.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire: A 1911 New York City factory fire that killed 146 garment workers and prompted major labor reforms. The disaster preceded the medical-examiner reforms that created the institutional context for Gettler’s work.