"On the face of it, last week’s apology
from the Hospital for Sick Children for flaws in the hair-strand drug
and alcohol testing program at its Motherisk lab may seem laudable. Except for this: Sick Kids spent almost a year
denying there were problems at the lab. It did so in the face of an
exhaustive investigation by the Star’s Rachel Mendleson that cast doubt
on the reliability of the lab’s drug and alcohol hair tests. And it did
so despite protests from many experts who were concerned that parents
might be losing custody of their children and others might face criminal
convictions based on flawed lab tests. That’s why it was too little, too late when
the hospital’s CEO, Dr. Michael Apkon, apologized for the “unacceptable”
practices at Motherisk and “to children, families and organizations who
feel that they may have been impacted in some negative way.” Indeed, it was Apkon who co-wrote a stirring defence
of the hospital’s lab last November saying the hospital had reviewed
“the processes, methodologies and quality control data” for it and
“reaffirmed that the public can have full confidence in the reliability
of Motherisk’s hair testing.” Really? As the just-released results of a second internal review found, nothing could be further from the truth. A summary of the review reveals that: Although it was not a forensic lab, staff may not have routinely
identified the limitations of its results when testifying in court; For several years, Motherisk had been misleading the hospital and others about its testing process; The lab did not use the “gold standard” for testing for drugs such as cannabinoids, even after it moved to it for other drugs; Oversight of the lab was not strong enough. And consider just one example of the ramifications of those failings. In 2008 Christine Rupert lost custody of her
two young daughters based on positive cocaine hair test results from the
Motherisk lab. That was at a time when the lab was using what other
doctors called preliminary tests — not the “gold standard” test for
cocaine. Still, such was the unquestioned reputation of
Motherisk that it didn’t matter she had produced nearly 70 clean urine
tests, cut ties with an abusive ex, and had ample money and space to
care for the girls. Motherisk “wrecked my life,” she says."
Monday, October 19, 2015
Bulletin: Motherisk: Toronto Star calls Hospital for Sick Children's apology for flaws in its hair-strand drug and alcohol testing program at its Motherisk lab, "too little, too late."..Star says the apology may seem laudable: "Except for this: Sick Kids spent almost a year denying there were problems at the lab. It did so in the face of an exhaustive investigation by the Star’s Rachel Mendleson that cast doubt on the reliability of the lab’s drug and alcohol hair tests. And it did so despite protests from many experts who were concerned that parents might be losing custody of their children and others might face criminal convictions based on flawed lab tests."
