The top official at the state laboratory that mishandled drug samples has resigned, and another lab executive has been fired, state law enforcement and health authorities announced Thursday, the latest development in an unfolding scandal.
The lab officials failed to detect obvious signs of problems with a chemist’s work involving drug samples from criminal cases, state executives said at a Beacon Hill press conference. They compounded that error by making the “poor decision” to wait six months to alert the state’s public health commissioner once problems were identified, said Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, secretary of health and human services in the Patrick administration.
Comments
How didn't Bigby get an indication of wrong doing at the lab? It appears to me to be a managment failure all the way up to those in the executive branch. Perhaps the investigation should be conducted by a federal agency.
This is another example of standard operating procedure in this State. Fraud, waste, and mismanagement is rampant. Now they want more taxpayer funds to straighten out the mess. What audacity. How thoroughly were these employees vetted before hiring and were they qualified? The lack of oversight is stunning.
Aren't these people checked out thoroughly before they are hired? Wasn't there a similar story a few years back about cases in the Boston Medical Examiners Office being mishandled? What is wrong with these agencies???
This is terribly disturbing; we cannot count on our own government agencies anymore. I guess any defense lawyer worth his salt these days will have to order his own autopsy or drug tests...and these double checks should be paid for by the city or state...not the defendant.
I trust that Ms. Doohly(sp) will be charged with a crime and she should also pay back her wages, or some monetary punishment. This is going to cost the Commonwealth quite a bit:retesting all her work, the probable release of 100's of prisoners, who will need social services right away, the possibility that some of those released prisoners will commit crimes....
Yet another failure of the state's executive branch. This is what happens when governors do not stay home and pay attention.