EDITORIAL: "The drug lab mess" published in January, 2013. (Reader may have to register under "free access" to view this editorial.
GIST: "In July, the state police assumed oversight of both the Amherst and Jamaica Plain labs from the state Department of Public Health. The state police were already running 10 labs around the state. Now they run all but one, at the UMass Medical School in Worcester, which is supervised by the Worcester County district attorney. The goal in having state police take over the DPH labs was to improve efficiency and set uniform standards. The labs under DPH supervision lacked the resources to meet national accreditation standards that the state police lab system had achieved. In the wake of the Amherst case, an independent review of all the state’s labs is warranted to ensure they are meeting accreditation standards. The state public health director, who resigned over the Jamaica Plain scandal, blamed it on the actions of a “rogue chemist.” In our opinion, the state must examine its system of accounting for materials processed and look also at how staff are trained, monitored and reviewed."
GIST: "In July, the state police assumed oversight of both the Amherst and Jamaica Plain labs from the state Department of Public Health. The state police were already running 10 labs around the state. Now they run all but one, at the UMass Medical School in Worcester, which is supervised by the Worcester County district attorney. The goal in having state police take over the DPH labs was to improve efficiency and set uniform standards. The labs under DPH supervision lacked the resources to meet national accreditation standards that the state police lab system had achieved. In the wake of the Amherst case, an independent review of all the state’s labs is warranted to ensure they are meeting accreditation standards. The state public health director, who resigned over the Jamaica Plain scandal, blamed it on the actions of a “rogue chemist.” In our opinion, the state must examine its system of accounting for materials processed and look also at how staff are trained, monitored and reviewed."
The entire editorial can be found at:
http://www.gazettenet.com/home/3993142-95/state-lab-police-amherst
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
