As of March 1, 2017, 18 out of 22 positions in the Toxicology Department of the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office will be cut. 4 positions will remain and those individuals will be responsible for outsourcing loved ones samples to a private lab.

This change will impact the lives of the citizens of Cook County immensely. Our department has been providing answers to cause and manner of death through drug analysis for over 30 years.

The number of drug overdoses dramatically rose this past summer. Because of the Cook County Toxicology Department, we were able to identify a whole new set of Fentanyl analogs that are being distributed on the black market to loved ones of the community. These Fentanyl analogs are extremely potent. If it was not for our department this epidemic would not have been caught. Our scanning methods allowed us to find this drug that would not have been discovered by a private laboratory if the County had been outsourcing our work.

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By sending samples to a private laboratory the following items will be impacted:

1. Doctors will lose the ability to consult with toxicologists who are a few feet away when they have questions about interpretation or questions about what drugs they may or may not pursue. Instead they will be spending money on consulting fees for a service already provided.

2. The community will no longer be able to call our department with questions about how the toxicology results impacted the life of their loved one or with questions about DNA requests. We currently talk to loved ones on a daily basis explaining results and timelines. We have cried with you often as we tried to work together through those tough times.

3. There will no be system of double checking toxicology results. Our system allows us checks and balances so that we can verify the results we send out are true and valid. A private lab will simply test what is given to them without regards to how that relates to case history overall.

4. The Toxicology Department will no longer be able to monitor trends and report this information back to the community.

5. The County believes they will be saving money, but they will be spending more of the tax payers dollars with a private laboratory. The County will spend more on tissue analysis, on tests that are not a routine part of analysis, on out-of-scope testing, and the County will be spending money on tests even when the Private Laboratory can not provide you with a result because a specimen was too decomposed. The County will also have to pay travelling fees in addition to testimony fees for individuals to fly out to Chicago to testify in a deposition or court of law.

These are just some of the ways eliminating 18 Toxicologists will impact Cook County. The list continues to grow.

Our department has a history of helping the community. We were there to uncover the Tylenol Poisonings in 1982, we were there for the E2 Night Club tragedy, and we are here now helping the Department of Justice with the Fentanyl Outbreak.

We embrace our work and appreciate the privilege to work for the citizens of Cook County. Please let us continue our mission.

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