Postmortem Toxicology Testing
Mission
To help determine the cause of manner of death by examining autopsy specimens for the presence and quantity of drugs and/or poisons.
What we do
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Identify and quantify drugs and poisons in biological fluids to provide critical information for the investigations conducted by the Office of the State Medical Examiners.
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Provide driver fatality statistics for the National Highway Traffic Safety Board’s use in driver safety initiatives and awareness campaigns.
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Identify emerging illicit and designer drugs which can lead to overdose epidemics.
Accomplishments
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Since 2008, the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory has maintained national accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 standards by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB). This laboratory was the first in New England to transition to the new and more rigorous ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standards.
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Validated and implemented the following new methods to enhance previous procedures:
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Rapid, expanded opioid method to simultaneously analyze 18 different opioids (2019);
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An expanded method for 13 stimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamine (2019);
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Enhanced method for cannabinoids with new compounds added, including CBD (2020)
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Improved method for 27 antidepressants and over-the -counter drugs (2020)
Rhode Island Department of Health