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The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (July 7, 2000 11:00 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Thousands of inmates were put at risk when
a medical lab faked results of tests for diseases like AIDS and
hepatitis, and there is little evidence the prisoners were retested
after the fraud was discovered, according to a San Francisco Chronicle
report Friday.
B.C.L. Clinical Labs tested inmates from at least seven
California prisons before health inspectors shut it down in 1997
after a surprise visit.
The inspection found that the lab, in the Los Angeles suburb of
Santa Fe Springs, was filled with idle, shoddy equipment, and that
workers simply made up test results and typed them into a computer,
according to federal and state documents obtained by the Chronicle.
It is unclear how many inmates may have falsely been found to be
free of AIDS or other diseases. Without retesting, the inmates
could have been released without knowing they had a serious or
potentially contagious condition.
"If they've got hepatitis or TB, they are spewing them around.
They are out in the mall," said Geoff Long, chief of staff for the
state Assembly's Appropriations Committee, who has worked on
corrections issues for 17 years.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services revoked
B.C.L.'s license and fined the lab $20,000. Investigators believe
the company's owner and manager, Pareena Ahkter and her brother
Ayazur Rahman, fled the country shortly after the inspection.
Federal regulators notified seven state prisons in March 1997
that the lab problems could mean patients were in "immediate
jeopardy."
Yet since last March, when the Chronicle first inquired into the
matter, the state Department of Corrections has been unable to
produce records of new testing.
Dr. Donna Wilson of the Department's Health Care Services
division said she believes the state did retest. Medical officials
from one prison say they sent some test samples to be reprocessed
at local hospitals, though they could not provide documentation.
Dr. Corey Weinstein, a San Francisco physician who consults with
advocacy groups on prison medical issues, said it's unlikely that
every prison retested.
"If it's not in the charts, it didn't happen," Weinstein said.
"Medical professionals are taught: You write everything down."
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Thanks!
***BUMP!***
>>"If it's not in the charts, it didn't happen," Weinstein said. "Medical professionals are taught: You write everything down." I see. Ostriches - I can't see you, so you can't see me.
The blood plasma drawn at Cummins was intentionally mislabeled. Names of "donors" were plucked out of the local phone books. The shipping boxes concealed the origin of the plasma.
The donor screening / testing was a farce. Most of the time no effort was made to test. Inmate-trustees were in charge of operations anyway, and could jigger the blood samples if they wished. They were known to allow visibly sick inmates to donate. They could actually charge for it because the donors were being paid in drugs.
Thanks to you, Five :-)
> B.C.L.
What could it be but Bill Clinton Laboratory?
a bump and a drip!
""If it's not in the charts, it didn't happen," Weinstein said. "Medical professionals are taught: You write everything down."
Uh-huh, right. Unless you're a FOB.
Actually, I was tipped by Horticultcha ... =)
Very well. Thanks to you AND Horticultcha and your parents and your best teachers and you sisters and your cousins and your aunts and to a Mr. Willard JoeRayBob Nuxbaum of East Fringe, Georgia, who has nothing to do with this but just hates Bill Clinton.
Lol ... fair enough ... I think we got everyone covered.
So, hawaya? If it's too hot there, come thisaway for a few days and cool off.
Too hot?
I was seen only after sundown the entire weekend.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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