# Why does tox test take 8 weeks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777 "2012-02-14T01:04:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablo_O_Malley)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/1 "2012-02-14T01:04:02Z")
it was announced it will be 6-8 weeks for the toxicology report to be out re whitney houston’s death why does it take so long? they’re not taking cultures and waiting for them to grow or anything like:cool:🆒🆒 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/2 "2012-02-14T01:23:05Z")
The labs and technicians doing the work likely have other things to do too, such as tox tests on other less-famous deceased individuals, report writing on the results, possibly testifying in court cases, having weekends and spending time with their families. There is no urgency other than the public being curious - there is no need to shove this to the front of the line. The actual testing probably only takes a few days to conduct, analyze and review if focused on to the exclusion of all else, but there’s no reason to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/3 "2012-02-14T01:41:08Z")
[From Slate](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2009/07/what_makes_toxicology_so_slow.html) ---
**Author:** ![Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablo_O_Malley)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/4 "2012-02-14T02:05:36Z")
r u insane? this america, she’s a celebrity, of course she gets pushed to thehead of the line…how the fuck do u think mickey fucking mantle jumped to the head of the line to get a new liver when there was a two year wait for livers? wise up,your so naive ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/5 "2012-02-14T02:37:28Z")
The living generally take precedent over the dead, and not all people on a wait list are suitable matches for organ donations. Also - money. Perhaps someone will pay to rush Houston’s toxicology analysis through. Possibly not; other cases _will_ take priority over a non-suspicious death. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/6 "2012-02-14T02:54:36Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > r u insane? this america, she’s a celebrity, of course she gets pushed to thehead of the line…how the fuck do u think mickey fucking mantle jumped to the head of the line to get a new liver when there was a two year wait for livers? wise up,your so naive Moderator Note::::::::::::::::: **Pablo** –you’re a newbie so I’m not warning you, just making this a note. This isn’t proper behaviour for General Questions. Insulting other posters isn’t allowed in the forum. **samclem** , Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/7 "2012-02-14T10:01:56Z")
Just an observation… There is absolutely no reason to push a dead person to the ‘front of the line’. They can wait. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/8 "2012-02-14T10:13:07Z")
> [@Khendrask](#): > > There is absolutely no reason to push a dead person to the ‘front of the line’. They can wait. The only way a dead person is getting to the front of the line is if they are pushed. They ain’t walking no matter how long you wait. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/9 "2012-02-14T12:19:33Z")
> [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](#): > > r u insane? this america, she’s a celebrity, of course she gets pushed to thehead of the line…how the fuck do u think mickey fucking mantle jumped to the head of the line to get a new liver when there was a two year wait for livers? wise up,your so naive Just the fact it is taking 2 mos+ to get the results shows that there is a delay. It does not take that long to process most blood and tissue tests. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/10 "2012-02-14T16:58:07Z")
8 weeks is nothing in California. My 45-year old brother died almost 3 years ago from a heart attack. He lived about an hour east of LA in San Bernadino county; it took 5 months to get a death certificate. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/11 "2012-02-14T17:05:41Z")
Someone just needs to slip the lab guy a carton of smokes. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/12 "2012-02-14T17:13:50Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Perhaps someone will pay to rush Houston’s toxicology analysis through. Possibly not; other cases _will_ take priority over a non-suspicious death. That makes me think of a hypothetical. Suppose some enterprising news concern wanted to pay for priority testing at a reputable private firm. They agree to not contact the testing company until the results are ready. In principle, there seems no reason why the government couldn’t take those test results as definitive, and therefore the arrangement would save taxpayer money, if the coroners release the samples that they’ve collected to the private company. All the news company asks for in exchange is an exclusive on the results, whatever they might be. Should such a deal be allowed? ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/13 "2012-02-14T19:34:30Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > That makes me think of a hypothetical. > > Suppose some enterprising news concern wanted to pay for priority testing at a reputable private firm. They agree to not contact the testing company until the results are ready. In principle, there seems no reason why the government couldn’t take those test results as definitive, and therefore the arrangement would save taxpayer money, if the coroners release the samples that they’ve collected to the private company. > > All the news company asks for in exchange is an exclusive on the results, whatever they might be. > > Should such a deal be allowed? I think you would also need permission from the deceased’s family. Although I am not 100% sure how that works, I don’t think the coroner can just release samples to whomever wants to test them. If it turned out to be a criminal matter, you might also have chain of custody issues. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-tox-test-take-8-weeks/612777/14 "2012-02-14T19:57:15Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > I think you would also need permission from the deceased’s family. Although I am not 100% sure how that works, I don’t think the coroner can just release samples to whomever wants to test them. If it turned out to be a criminal matter, you might also have chain of custody issues. Yeah, I was thinking of that after I posted. After all, once one company does it, you’re going to have rival companies bidding up the rights. 😃 I certainly could see how the family could be - offended by that, if they weren’t in on the decision.