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Extensive Lab Errors Result in Shut Down
The state of Indiana recently took strong measures to reduce the high rate of errors at its state drug testing lab.
December 24, 2011 /Law and Legal PR News/ -- Extensive Lab Errors Result in Shut Down
The state of Indiana recently took strong measures to reduce the high rate of errors at its state drug testing lab. A story in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that the state of Indiana is taking drug testing responsibilities away from the Indiana University School of Medicine. Instead, a new state agency will now handle drug testing.
There's a reason for this move. A News-Sentinel report notes the number of errors made by the Indiana University drug testing lab was shockingly high. According to an audit in the spring of this year, the lab recorded an error rate of 10 percent on positive marijuana tests from 2007 to 2009.
At the same time, the paper reports, one in three of the lab's cocaine tests during this period also failed to meet acceptable scientific criteria. The state is still waiting to see the error results relating to alcohol, amphetamines and other drugs. But the expectation is that the error rates for these substances will be far too high, too.
According to a story in the Evansville, Indiana Courier & Press, the studies by the Indiana Department of Toxicology have raised concerns that the state could, or already may have, handed down wrongful convictions based on flawed drug lab studies. Fortunately, changes are coming to the state. In early 2011, the Indiana General Assembly voted to make the lab a stand-alone state agency. This vote came among increasing worries by police and prosecutors about the Indiana University lab's weak performance.
As noted in the Courier & Press, the Indiana Department of Toxicology studied 265 positive cocaine test results. According to the study, 180 of these test results passed a quality review. Unfortunately, this means that 85 test results -- about 32 percent -- failed the same quality review. The department also reviewed 552 tests for benzoylecgonine, a cocaine derivative, and discovered that 20 percent of these tests failed to pass a quality review.
It's incumbent, of course, for Indiana to resolve its drug-testing problems. The very real specter of wrongful convictions should be more than enough to inspire the state to take the serious step of creating its new stand-alone testing agency.
Article provided by Bibbs Law Firm
Visit us at www.bibbslaw.com
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