By Dave Altimari, Hartford Courant
The state has released the full toxicology report on Sandy Hook school shooter Adam Lanza, confirming that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he shot and killed 20 first-graders and six adults on Dec. 14.
The Courant first reported Lanza had no drugs or alcohol in his system in May. The report provides some additional details, including that Lanza tested negative for marijuana and had part of his brain taken to UConn for genetic testing.
“There is no chemical reason or apparent medical reason to explain what his (Lanza) actions,” former chief state’s medical examiner H. Wayne Carver said.
Lanza’s blood was tested for hundreds of drugs, divided into six categories – alcohol, acidic, neutral drugs, basic drugs, cocaine, opiates and oxycodone. The test covers everything from legal drugs from aspirin to anti-depressants such as Paxil or Zoloft as well as illegal drugs including heroin and cocaine.
The marijuana test was conducted by NMS Labs of Willow Grave, Pa. and also was negative, the report said. Carver also ran a screening test for amphetamines, which also came back negative, the report said.
A toxicology report is usually not a public document, but Carver said that in this case Peter Lanza, Adam Lanza’s father, agreed to allow the report to be released after a meeting between Carver, Danbury State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky and a lawyer representing Peter Lanza.
Peter Lanza did not authorize the release of his son’s autopsy or any other medical records pertaining to his son, according to Errol Cockfield, a spokesman for Peter Lanza. Cockfield confirmed Tuesday that Peter Lanza did authorize the release of the toxicology report but said he would not have any comment as to why he chose to allow the release of just that document from his son’s records.
Also as part of their investigation the medical examiner’s office saved about 90 grams of Adam Lanza’s brain, which is a little more than 5 percent of it.
Carver said while he did not test specifically for Lyme Disease, Lanza’s brain did not show any signs that he suffered from it.
Carver sent a piece of Lanza’s brain to geneticists at the University of Connecticut Health Center to study for genetic markers. Carver said he hasn’t received a final report, but he doesn’t anticipate having to alter Adam Lanza’s death certificate.
“If I thought there was something through the DNA testing that could have been listed as a contributing factor I would have added it to his death certificate,” Carver said.
Adam Lanza’a death was ruled a suicide.