ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to expanding on the subjects that are deemed indispensable in a comprehensive quality assurance program and standard operating procedure manual. Post-mortem toxicology involves the analysis of drugs and poisons in biological samples taken from deceased persons. And of course, apparent accidental deaths may turn out to be suicides or natural deaths occurring in circumstances that suggest an accident. The primary goal for the toxicology laboratory is to determine whether substances are present in the deceased in sufficient quantities to contribute to or cause death. QA provides safeguards to ensure that the toxicology report contains results that are accurate and reproducible, and that the chain of custody has been preserved. Standard guidelines now exist for the standard collection of specimens for a post-mortem toxicology investigation. Collection techniques are discussed in the following sub-sections by specimen type. Therein lie some of the limitations of using immunoassays for post-mortem toxicology.
