Lindsay Clancy’s Toxicology Findings Revealed

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I'm going to draw your attention to a laboratory number 23-01723. Do you recall doing work on that particular lab number? Yes. Do you recall what your role was in that batch process for the lab number? [00:00:21] Speaker 2: Yes. I performed the confirmation method for benzodiazepines on the urine sample and the quantitation method for benzodiazepines on the blood sample. [00:00:34] Speaker 1: And in order to do, well, can you tell us a little bit about the benzodiazepine? What did you do as far as that particular test? [00:00:45] Speaker 2: When testing both the blood and the urine, for the most part, the same method is used. We use a solid phase extraction method to separate the drugs from the rest of the biological material. Biological materials can have things like lipids and steroids and blood cells and bacteria and other things that can interfere with our testing. So we use this solid phase extraction method to separate the drugs and concentrate them to be able to run on our instrument. And then we run them on a LC-MS-MS, which is a liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer that can separate the different drugs and identify specifically which one is present and how much is there. When we're testing blood samples, we can report out that value for how much is present. When testing urine samples by this method, although the method itself can determine how much is present, we don't report that out because concentrations in urine aren't really meaningful. They don't reflect any concentration that had previously been in the blood. They mostly just reflect how much of the drug was present in the urine. So we don't report that. There is an additional step that's needed when testing urine at the beginning of the method, but otherwise both the blood and the urine are tested in the same manner using the solid phase extraction and the LC-MS-MS. [00:02:09] Speaker 1: And in this case, with this laboratory number, the toxicology unit was in fact provided with six vials of blood in one vial of urine, correct? [00:02:18] Speaker 2: There were four vials of blood and then two vials of serum plasma, which had started out as blood but were serum by the time we received them, and then one tube of urine. [00:02:28] Speaker 1: Okay. And as far as the urine goes, in your role in this batch process, you conducted that benzodiazepine screen, correct? Yes. And it was positive? Yes. And then the further testing, were you able to detect any particular benzodiazepines in the urine? [00:02:50] Speaker 2: I didn't conduct the initial benzodiazepine screen through the ELISA method, which was positive. Based on that positive result, I ran the confirmation method on the urine, which identified the specific drugs that were present, and that identified in urine norodiazepam, oxazepam, timazepam, and lorazepam. [00:03:08] Speaker 1: And based on your training experience when it comes to those substances, if it's detected in either blood or urine, does it mean that there are those four separate substances, or could they be derivatives of one particular drug? [00:03:25] Speaker 2: Yes. Each of those substances is available as its own drug. You can get prescriptions for them. You can purchase them. However, diazepam, that's more commonly used than nordiazepam, oxazepam, and timazepam, breaks down into those other three substances. So often when we detect nordiazepam, oxazepam, and timazepam, they actually are present in the body because diazepam or another benzodiazepine was initially taken, and it broke down to those three. [00:03:58] Speaker 1: But as far as your testing, when it comes to urine, you can't determine or quantify what it was or if it was one drug or multiple? Correct. Now, in this particular case, you indicated that there was also further testing done on the blood, correct? Yes. And was it as well for the benzodiazepines? Yes. And that was just because that was your role in the batch testing for this case? Yes. What were the results in the testing of the benzodiazepines in the blood? [00:04:28] Speaker 2: The blood contained 8.8 nanograms per ml a liter of diazepam and 20 nanograms per milliliter of nordiazepam and 4.8 nanograms per ml of oxazepam and 1.9 nanograms per ml of timazepam and 61 nanograms per ml of lorazepam. [00:04:52] Speaker 1: And in your role in this testing process, you're just running the equipment, running the tests, and getting the data, correct? [00:04:59] Speaker 2: There is some analysis of the data. I have to ensure that the controls performed appropriately, that the instrument was running properly, and make a decision based on the instrument data, what I consider to be positive or not. But then it's handed off to another analyst who generates the final report. [00:05:18] Speaker 1: And in this case, were all the controls appropriate, all the equipment running effectively and everything done according to the policies and procedures of the lab? [00:05:28] Speaker 2: Ultimately, all of the relevant controls that were associated with the samples performed appropriately. [00:05:34] Speaker 1: What did you do with the information or the data that you received as a result of these tests? What did you do with it? [00:05:39] Speaker 2: I put it together in a batch file that contained all the data for my analysis. It contained the case data for the samples that were run on that day, as well as all the control data that was run simultaneously and other traceability type info and gave it to another analyst who reviewed it to ensure that laboratory policies and procedures were followed, that the controls performed appropriately in order to report the results and that the results were scientifically accurate. And then after that, analysts agreed with my findings, the data was put into the individual case files. [00:06:16] Speaker 1: And in this case, the reporting analyst for the entire lab number of 23-01723 was in fact somebody by the name of Nicholas Roberts, correct? Yes. And you're aware that there were other forensic scientists who did other testing for other types of drugs in the same test, but it wasn't part of your role or your batch? Correct. Thank you. [00:06:40] Speaker 3: Mr. Reddington. So the toxicology report you're familiar with was dated February 24th of 2023, is that correct? Do you have it in front of you? [00:06:56] Speaker 2: I haven't referred to it. [00:06:58] Speaker 3: Yeah, great. Thank you. Yes. Okay. And you can keep it right there and look at it. And then you have, it makes reference to your lab number, and then it talks about the specimens that you've indicated, which would be the toxicology blood times four, serum plasma, you noted serum plasma, and then urine, right? Yes. And when you say serum plasma, what is that? Is that just a breakdown of the blood, or is it that that was actual plasma that was submitted? And how did that come about as opposed to the actual blood in items number one, two, and three? [00:07:37] Speaker 2: We received samples that were taken for medical reasons, and the sample that was initially drawn would have been blood, but the hospital would have separated the blood cells from the liquid portion of the sample prior to it being submitted to our lab. So when I received it, it was serum plasma, but it would have initially been blood. [00:07:59] Speaker 3: Okay. And likewise with the urine, correct? [00:08:02] Speaker 2: Yes. [00:08:03] Speaker 3: And you received all of these items in indicating light blue top tube, potassium oxalate, sodium fluoride. That would just so prevent coagulation, right? Yes. And then looking down further, it says on the toxicology blood, you make reference to, as you indicated, the 8.8 diazepam, the nordiazepam, the oxazepam, temazepam, morazepam, and you're putting down, would that be nanograms per milliliters, NGML? Yes. Okay.