About Ask Dr. D
A physician who read the research, then took it to court.
Dr. James Dahlgren is an internist and toxicologist. Over his career he has read more than 260,000 peer-reviewed studies, built them into a research database, and used that work on behalf of people harmed by chemical exposure.
- 260,000+
- peer-reviewed studies read and built into a research database
- 1986
- founded Pacific Toxicology Laboratories
- 1977–2011
- UCLA School of Medicine clinical faculty
- [TODO: confirm: number of cases / people represented]
- litigation on behalf of people harmed by chemical exposure
A career at the edge of medicine and chemistry
Dr. Dahlgren trained at UCSF, the Boston VA, and Cedars-Sinai, with a fellowship in infectious diseases at UCLA. He then built a practice in internal medicine and in occupational and environmental medicine, the subspecialty most doctors never train in. In 1986 he founded Pacific Toxicology Laboratories, and for more than three decades he taught as clinical faculty at UCLA.
His published work follows real exposures in real communities.
- Persistent organic pollutants in 9/11 World Trade Center rescue workers, before and after detoxification
- Health effects among residents near a wood-treatment plant, and cancer prevalence in communities exposed to PFOA
- Lead exposure and its effects on the body, from anemia to infertility
- Benzene, solvents, and occupational disease
[TODO: confirm publication count with Dr. Dahlgren (the CV lists roughly three dozen published papers, plus several in preparation)]
The research database
Reading one study tells you what one group of researchers found. Reading 260,000 tells you where the findings agree, where they conflict, and where the honest answer is that nobody knows yet. That’s the foundation of the evidence grades you’ll see on everything we publish.
[TODO: Dr. Dahlgren to describe in his own words how the database is organised and how it is used]
[Photo: Dr. Dahlgren’s research library — awaiting photo]
[Photo: case files — awaiting photo (confirm nothing identifying)]
The litigation work
Dr. Dahlgren has used this research on behalf of people harmed by chemical exposure, and he has spoken at litigation conferences on benzene and PFOA.
[TODO: confirm and describe: types of cases, roles (e.g. expert witness), approximate number of cases. Do not publish anything confidential or identifying.]
Why Ask Dr. D
“Approved doesn’t mean safe.”
[TODO: Dr. Dahlgren to explain, in his own words, why he started Ask Dr. D]
[Video: Intro: Who is Dr. D (full 10-minute conversation) — awaiting Mux upload]
Credentials
- M.D., University of California, San Francisco (1968)
- Fellow in Infectious Diseases, UCLA Medical Center (1971–1973)
- Board certified, American Board of Internal Medicine
- Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine (1977–2011)
- Founder, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories (1986)
- Member, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (1975–present)
Why we’re a company
Ask Dr. D is a company, not a nonprofit, by design. Your purchase funds independent research into testing and treatment for chemical exposure — research that isn't being done today. Charging for our deepest work lets us keep much of our content free and keep building.
See what that funds in our reports, and read the free articles in the library.
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