Ethical and Legal Issuescontinued
TERM EXPLANATION
Assault & battery
Chain of custody
Touching another person without his/her consent. Drawing blood against a patient’s wishes could
lead to charges of assault & battery.Procedure to guarantee integrity of specimen to court, e.g., legal blood alcohol, drug test. Each
person handling specimen must sign chain-of-custody form that accompanies specimen & docu-
ments custody of specimen at all times. Specimen may be transported in locked box to prevent
tampering.