The former chemist at the heart of the state drug lab scandal admitted that she altered test results, forged colleagues’ initials, and did not perform proper tests on drugs “for about two to three years,” according to a State Police report that lays out in detail what one prosecutor has called “one of the largest criminal snafus” in Massachusetts history.
The 100-page State Police report, obtained by the Globe Wednesday morning, makes it clear that Annie Dookhan’s colleagues were deeply suspicious of her shoddy work habits and extremely high output for years. But supervisors took little action for more than a year, even when confronted with evidence that she had lied on her resume and removed drug evidence without authorization.
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So, are they going to arrest her or what???!!!! What are they waiting for?
While the state troop was well meaning, he should ask her directly if she is suicidal instead of if she is thinking of harming herself. If she is suicidal, then the State may want to consider taking her into protective custody It is important to separate the presumptive moral judgment of her from the existential concern of her well being
Of course it's not politically correct to mention it, but was her hiring a result of affirmative action and the desire for "diversity" ? As Jerry Seinfeld would add, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
"So far, Dookhan has not been charged with any crime. Coakley’s office is trying to determine whether there was any criminal wrongdoing by Dookhan or others."
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Ah, I was wondering this myself. Clearly, in this area of criminal drug testing, not following the procedures and providing dishonest results SHOULD be a crime. I wonder if having the lab report up through the Department of Public Health creates a lack of prosecutability.
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Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey has called the Dookhan case “one of the largest criminal snafus in the history of the Commonwealth.”
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Yes, and it's not so much about Annie Dookhan as it is about the efficacy of lab procedures and lab management. How can the public have confidence in the results from the other chemists in this lab, or other chemists in other similar labs. With management lacking at the top you don't know what you've got down below until you thoroughtly investigate.
Annie Dookhan sounds like a lost soul. How sad if her actions were the result of being in a pressure cooker environment with a management that was detached and perhaps just didn't care.
And on the national level, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton admitted wrongdoing in explaining the Libya embassy scandal. NOW Hillary said that the attack on the embassy was due to terrorism. This of course comply contradicts Obama's speech to the U.N. yesterday.
Yeah, did you see Ambassador Susan Rice last week, explaining it was all because of that 'bad movie' ... of course people spontaneously protesting a movie have rocket propelled grenades!
What the heck does your comment have to do with this article? Just had to put something in about Obama didn't you?? Go find yourself another article to pollute with your anti-Obama rhetoric; you're boring.
Gov. Patrick's leadership further victimizes law abiding citizens of Massachusetts. 1. Fights Secure Communities 2. Ignores enforcement of illegal immigration 3. Shoddy leadership of drug testing lab, which will lead to thousands of released criminals who can take advantage of ... 4. CORI law reforms, and get jobs near you and your kids!
Management of the lab should go down. No one thought it was odd she was doing five times the normal work? Working through lunch? Give me a break.
All the supervisors and I mean ALL upper management should be fired from that lab. How can they have let that go on and on without any suspicion that something is seriously, seriously wrong. What disgrace. Not to mention 34,000 cases have to be reviewed? That is going to tie up the legal system for a decade!!!!
Too many state employees are laying low and trying to stay under the radar to avoid their connection to the state drug lab scandal. There is absolutely no way this situation was not noticed, reported to superiors - but repeatedly ignored by superiors, hence it continued for years.
According to Gov. Patrick's comments to the media yesterday, he refuses any responsibility for the integrity of state administration: He is of the opinion that his responsibility stops with his choice of office curtains.
The negligence involved in this event is so broad it is beyond belief that this woman was not highly scrutinized for any number of reasons very early on. The Globe should be congratulated for highlighting this case as it reflects yet another pattern of incompetent if not corrupt behavior by public employees and their supervisors. This person has, single handedly, wrecked havoc on the judicial system and wasted millions of dollars (as well as jeopardized untold numbers of people's lives) because her supervisors had utterly no regard for the integrity of the work they were supposed to manage. If the management of such a sensitive and critical state judicial system is this incompetent one can only wonder how awful other, far less important, tasks are managed by state "workers". Thanks to the Globe for this and the other revelations of incompetence and corruption that they have published recently. This is "speaking truth to power" as its clear this state is run with almost complete disregard by multitudes of state employees at virtually every level. One pities the reliable state workers who see garbage like this, speak up like some (apparently) did here but only to have the criticism completely ignored.
they also should check Julie Nassiff credentials, she was Ralph Timperi's (previous dph commissioner) babysitter. Ralph Timperi's fake his PhD degree. I worked for dph and I always question Julie Nassiff knowledge and credentials for having such higher position right away when Ralph Timperis gave her that Chemistry Director position... she used employees in the lab to babysit her daughters in her house and they also should investigate other lab that she oversees... I dont know why took so long to fired her... unbelivable!!!
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