Daniel Patterson (Forensic Toxicologist)

Full Member, Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society
Full Member, Forensic and Clinical Toxicology Association

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Daniel Patterson is a forensic toxicologist with a professional background in healthcare and over a decade of experience in the drug and alcohol testing sector. He commenced work in drug and alcohol testing in 2016 and has since worked extensively across clinical, workplace, aviation, government, and forensic environments.

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Daniel has worked as a Drug Testing Officer for emergency healthcare services, has been engaged as both a Drug Testing Officer and Toxicologist by multiple government agencies, and served for two years as the Drug Testing Review Officer for an aeromedical retrieval service.

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Upon going into private practice, Daniel has been engaged by government and private lawyers for family law, child safety, and criminal law cases. His expertise lies in the interpretation of oral fluid, hair, and urine drug testing results in workplace, child safety, corrective services, and court-ordered contexts. Daniel has appeared as an expert in:

• Children’s Court of New South Wales (restoration matters)

• New South Wales criminal courts, including the Supreme Court of New South Wales

• Queensland civil and criminal courts, including the Supreme Court of Queensland

• Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia

 

In addition to his forensic practice, Daniel is the sole inventor of XenoLyte, Australia’s first oral fluid buffer to comply with AS/NZS 4760:2019 (Appendix C2, dilution and drug recovery). When independently tested, the lowest recovery was Oxycodone at 92.9% recovery. Additionally, it is the only buffer fluid on the market (as far as we can find) that has been verified to recover Benzodiazepines from oral fluid (~99.6% recovery on average).

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Daniel regularly presents to employers, government agencies, and law societies on drug testing methodologies relevant to their regulatory, operational, and legal obligations.