I have zero idea where to turn on this one, so I posting it here.<p>My son's babysitter told me last night that she things that her husband might have poisoned her. He's out of the house now (has been for months) and is away from this woman and my child.<p>HOWEVER, she is looking for a way to prove it. She was very sick last year (2000). Based on her symptons and the course that her illness too her doctor suspects that poison is the cause. It happened long enough ago that her blood tests are coming back clear. Apparently there is a test that can be done on your hair to tell. Her doctor was not able to give her the name of a lab who can conduct the test.<p>This is probably a HUGE longshort, but I figured maybe you guys might have some kind of information about this.<p>(This whole thing is really freaky to me!)

I don't have any information for you, but...WHOA<p>THAT IS FREAKY STUFF!

the police should be able to help, this is a crime, and they should have access to a lab to do the analysis,

A teaching/university hospital would have knowledge/access to the testing of hair. Also a good infectious disease doc. Once took care of a fellow in our rehab with chronic non specific symptoms ...turns out there was some arsenic poisoning going on...he was an immigrant worker working in a company that made fireworks...took a long time to diagnose but hair folicle testing was the key...good luck!!
ARK

We were able to find a lab in Texas that will probably be able to do it.<p>Thanks for your help.<p>Based on her symptoms, it looks like it might be arsenic. So scary!<p>Guess cheating is not the worst thing that can happen. She's not even a rich woman. She has a few little assets from her previous marriage. That's it. <p>The whole thing is just so, so, so strange!

Scarlett,<p>You live in NY city. There are no local labs that will do this test? Did she call the police for help or advice?<p>How long will it take to get the results back? I could be off base, but it seems that the courts and police would be happier if the evidence were collected by a forensic investigator. Who is taking the hair sample?<p>If someone where to accuse me of attempted murder based on a hair sample they took and sent to a lab across the country, the first thing I'd bring up in court is how do we even know that it was her hair and how do we know who the arsnic got there. She could have soaked the hair in rat poison before sending it out.<p>Just playing devil's advocate.

She called every local hospital in NYC and had no luck. I'm not exactly sure why. I just know that she's been on the phone all around the country trying to find a lab that can do the work.<p>I honestly don't even think that it will get to the judge/jury phase. To be perfectly honest she just wants him to give her what belongs to her. She got an inheritance while they were married and now he's staking his claim to that. It's not so much money. I guess maybe he's just really greedy.<p>The hair test is more like a DNA test, so I don't think it matters really what lab it comes from.<p>It's a very very stange thing. He made all of her funeral arrangements while she was sick. And then got really angry (and moved out) when she recovered. It's just freaky. I'm curious about the whole thing, but at the same time it kind of scares me so there are many questions that I just don't ask.

I wonder if her H has a job that would give him access to arsenic or other poisons.<p>E.

She was a secretary in an investment bank. She lost her job due to ongoing illness. (She was on disability and got laid off while she was gone).<p>She worked in the same building that I now work in. Nobody else at work got sick but her.<p>They were able to narrow down that her illness probably came from the home. And as soon as her husband moved out she quit getting sick. <p>Apparently he began giving her a fruit drink every morning in early 2000. She got sicker and sicker over the next few months with really non-specific symptoms. Nausea, diareah (sp?), etc. In time she was unable to work and admitted to the hospital. Had some sort of surgery and was doing a bit better. June 2000 her son was injured in another state so she went to be with him. Upon returning home she discovered that he had moved out. She was been healthy since he left.