SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP, Pa. — One year ago, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office & Forensic Center became the first in the state to roll out technology for rapid toxicological results.
“The 4-8 week wait for most of our toxicology results is over,” Coroner Dan Buglio said in September 2023.
“Soon, we will be able to provide toxicology results to the family of a loved one who died as a result of prescription/illicit drug overdose in 30 minutes.”
Lehigh was the first county in Pennsylvania to purchase the device, Buglio said, highlighting a pivotal change in the way his office handled drug overdose cases.
Covered in part by a $45,000 grant, the machine also would save taxpayer dollars, he said, dropping the cost of a toxicology test from $400 per case to $32 per case.
Now, Buglio is again highlighting a grant that he says will increase efficiency and help case management.
'Greater accuracy, understanding'
The office recently received a grant of $409,500 that will be used to purchase, install and maintain a new post-mortem CT scanner, Buglio said Monday.
The grant also will cover training, software costs and two years of maintenance, enhancing the quality of forensic services provided by the office, he said.
Buglio said the office plans to incorporate the scanner into its daily operations in approximately four to eight weeks, improving case management and helping to determine the scope of autopsy examinations, including whether an internal or external exam is necessary.
Not only will it document injuries and the locations of projectiles, but it will allow the office to honor families’ requests for no internal exam when preferred, Buglio said, adding it was the third attempt by Chief Deputy Coroner Richard Pender to secure the grant funding.
Buglio said the scanner “will be a state-of-the-art tool” assisting in daily death investigations and “providing families with greater accuracy and understanding when discussing the cause and manner of death of their loved ones."
Because the scan would help eliminate traditional autopsies in some cases, the cost savings per case would be approximately $1,800, he said.
"Bringing this technology to Lehigh County demonstrates that the coroner's office is continually moving forward."Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio
Lehigh County would join Northampton in use of the CT scanner, though Buglio noted Berks, Carbon and Monroe counties do not yet have the aid of this technology.
"Bringing this technology to Lehigh County demonstrates that the coroner's office is continually moving forward,” he said.
