Impairment Consultants, LLC is a consulting firm founded by Brett J. Murphy APN, PMHNP-BC. Mr. Murphy is a qualified and experienced nurse-practitioner in the State of New Jersey offering consultation, review & analysis, report preparation, and testimony in legal cases involving Driving Under the Influence of Drugs/Medications (“DUID”), Driving While Intoxicated (“DWI”), Refusal to Submit Samples of Breath (“Refusal”), and other legal cases involving medical, pharmacological, toxicological, mental and physical health conditions, and other matters in which the firm’s advice and assistance may be sought by individuals and professionals in the legal field, who represent clients facing charges involving these types of issues.

Typically, legal professionals seek the firm's services in cases wherein their clients have been accused of DWI or DUID, and seek a possible explanation or defense to the charge. The firm’s analysis addresses issues revolving around whether there are other circumstances, particularly medical or mental health conditions, that impacted upon the arresting officer’s observations, sobriety tests (Including but not limited to one’s performance on the so-called Standardized Field sobriety Tests), chemical test results, or other conclusions that led to the client being charged. The analysis necessarily involves, among other things, a review of the discovery (investigation reports, chemical test results, blood/urine results, video evidence, etc.) and medical history/records of the client.

Many medical, physical and mental health conditions produce signs and symptoms which are virtually indistinguishable from those induced by alcohol and/or drugs, or which otherwise explain the observational proofs or call the chemical test results into question, thus creating reasonable doubt. Often, medical or mental health conditions explain a suspect’s refusal to submit to testing, thereby creating a viable defense to the charge of Refusal. With respect to DUID cases, there is a common misconception that the mere presence of drugs/medications in the blood or urine is conclusive proof that of the suspect was under the influence of the substance when driving. The firm’s analysis often dispels this common myth.