State hygiene lab's backlog stalls cases, insurance claims

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State hygiene lab's backlog stalls cases, insurance claims

(Published Monday, May 13, 2002 10:24:44 AM CDT)

Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. -- A backlog at Wisconsin's public health laboratory has

slowed down criminal cases and insurance claims statewide.

" We are chronically short-staffed or understaffed, " said Laessig,

director of the Wisconsin Laboratory of Hygiene. " When there is an

extraordinary event such as the anthrax outbreak, it places tremendous

strain on the system. "

The lab sometimes takes four months to complete toxicology tests, said

Liddicoat, the lab's toxicology supervisor. The backlog has sometimes

caused trial delays, Dane County District Attorney Blanchard said.

" The delay we see is on the screens for prescription drugs, " he said. " The

delay for that is somewhat substantial. For our clocks, that can be a real

challenge. "

The hygiene lab tests for everything from water quality and mold mold to

chemicals in the workplace. The 350-employee lab also serves Wisconsin's

county coroners.

Dane County Coroner Stanley said families sometimes must wait for

coroners to declare a cause of death, holding up insurance claims.

" There are all kinds of legal issues that can't be dealt with because the

death certificate is pending, " he said.

The budget repair bill pending in the Legislature would provide emergency

staffing at the lab during a crisis. But that would not address some of the

lab's other challenges, including:

--Police and attorneys are more often seeking blood tests in drunken driving

cases because of a 1997 legal challenge to breath tests, Liddicoat said.

--Staff chemists are spending more time testifying in court.

--The lab still sees five to 10 anthrax specimens a week, Laessig said.

" We anticipate this will continue. The theory is another anthrax event will

occur, and we expect to be on 24-7 operation again, " he said. Nationwide,

public health labs experienced delays even before testing increased because

of last fall's anthrax scare.

" In general, there are long delays in forensic toxicology tests from most,

if not all, state laboratories, " said Ralph Timperi, director of the State

Laboratory Institute in Massachusetts.

" The general problem is that demand for testing has increased exponentially

as technology has made more and more tools available to aid both prosecution

and defense positions. "

Test methods have become more complex, and attorneys more often use testing

in court, he said.