The city contracts with St. Louis University School of Medicine to provide forensic services. Under that contract, Graham serves as the chief medical examiner. The contract extends through June 2018.

Police briefed Mayor Francis Slay’s office in December. His chief of staff, Mary Ellen Ponder, said this week that she was “disappointed” by the allegations.

“But they are allegations, and my job is to get to the bottom of them and find out the truth,” she said. “It’s always good practice to review policies and procedures because there’s always room for improvement. It’s serious to us, and that’s why we have an internal and external investigation ongoing.”

The drugs primarily come from homes where people have died. Police alert the medical examiner’s office of unexpected home deaths, even if the cause appears natural. The office decides whether to send an investigator, Graham said.

“We investigate sudden deaths, or if we believe drugs played a role in the death,” Graham explained.

His investigators typically seize prescription medications that they believe could be linked to the death, package them in a sealed envelope and write a general description on the outside.