Correctional Addiction Medicine Toxicologist

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

Dr. Caitlin Bonney, MD, FACEP, brings over 11 years of experience as a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician, Medical Toxicologist, and Addiction Medicine specialist with extensive experience providing and leading substance use disorder care in carceral settings. She currently serves as the Medical Director of Addiction Medicine for a large metropolitan detention center, where she oversees a comprehensive jail-based addiction treatment program serving hundreds of incarcerated individuals. Dr. Bonney’s work in correctional health focuses on the clinical, operational, and regulatory aspects of delivering evidence-based addiction care in jails and prisons. Her experience includes program development and scale-up, including development of an opioid treatment program (OTP or “methadone clinic”); intake screening and withdrawal management protocols; implementation and oversight of medications for opioid use disorder, including buprenorphine and methadone; coordination with custody, nursing, pharmacy, and community partners; and quality-improvement and risk-mitigation initiatives. She has direct experience managing medically complex and high-risk incarcerated patients and addressing system-level challenges inherent to correctional healthcare delivery. She is a Certified Correctional Healthcare Professional. She is also a practicing emergency physician with substantial frontline experience caring for patients with overdose, intoxication, withdrawal, and other acute complications of substance use. As a medical toxicologist, Dr. Bonney has specialized expertise in poisoning and overdose, pharmacology, drug interactions, and the interpretation and limitations of toxicology testing, including urine drug screening. She frequently educates clinicians and trainees on these topics and has authored peer-reviewed publications and delivered invited lectures in emergency medicine, medical toxicology, and addiction medicine. Dr. Bonney is an academic physician actively involved in medical education, teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and interdisciplinary healthcare professionals. She is experienced in the review of medical records, policies, and clinical practices, and in evaluating standards of care related to substance use disorders, withdrawal management, overdose, toxicology, emergency care, and correctional health systems. She is actively involved in professional organizations, including the development of clinical practice guidelines for the American College of Medical Toxicology and position statements for the American College of Medical Toxicology. Her expertise lies at the intersection of emergency medicine, medical toxicology, addiction medicine, and correctional healthcare, particularly where clinical care, systems design, and legal scrutiny overlap. Her legal consulting experience includes cases related to in-custody deaths, hyperactive delirium, and interpretation of post-mortem drug levels.