The Center for Disease control said that Indiana is one of the three worst states for overdose fatality reports because of inconsistencies in the way coroners test and fill out death certificates. In an effort to improve that reporting, the Indiana State Department of Health’s Division of Trauma and Injury Prevention launched a toxicology pilot program that works with coroners and allows them to order either a basic or more comprehensive panel.
Currently, no national standards exist for toxicology testing and tests conducted often vary by coroner’s office, capacity and funding. The limited toxicology testing may be due in part to the increasing number of deaths due to opioids which could result in coroners lacking the necessary resources needed to implement comprehensive toxicology testing panels.
Comprehensive toxicology testing is vital to properly indentify drugs, specifically opioids. County coroner’s offices are responsible for conducting investigations and determining when an autopsy is required during investigations. During an autopsy, toxicological laboratory tests might be performed to determine the types of drugs present.
However, the substances tested for and circumstances which the tests are performed vary from county to county. As a result, certain tests may not capture particular synthetic substances, potentially limiting the understanding of changing and emerging drug threats.
In order to improve methods ISDH will be working with five Indiana counties during the pilot program that will run until the end of October. During that time, ISDH will be using grant funding to pay for the toxicology testing on suspected overdose deaths. The goal of the project is to increase the number of tests ordered and improve the reporting of drug-specific data.
