UHS Lab Changes Rules On Handling Specimens

The University Health Services clinical laboratory, which faces a possible investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor, recently changed its methods for transporting specimens containing potentially dangerous diseases, according to an internal memorandum obtained by The Crimson.

The memorandum, which was sent out over the laboratory's electronic mail system, went to employees on April 1--nine days after OSHA informed UHS of allegations that the laboratory mishandled "blood-borne pathogens." HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is one such pathogen.

A former laboratory employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, last week said workers often handled leaky containers with dangerous specimens because administrators were unwilling to purchase proper containers. The employee said specimens taken from patients at the Medical, Law and Business Schools were transported twice daily to the lab in brown paper bags that leaked.

In the memo, Laboratory Manager Barbara Skane informed all lab staff of changes in the packaging used for moving the specimens. She also acknowledged that the lab had been using paper bags to carry specimens. The memo gave no reason for the change.

"Courier transport of all specimens will be done using a puncture-resistant carrier identical to the one we use in the laboratory," Skane wrote in the memo. "Paper bags will no longer be used to package specimens. Clear biohazard bags will be used. Specimens collected in glass must be transported in a puncture-resistant container."

The former employee also said workers were permitted to handle feces from stool tests, in paper envelopes instead of the more costly barrier envelopes required under federal guidelines. Skane's memo makes no mention of envelopes.

Skane yesterday said she did not have time to answer questions from The Crimson. UHS Director Dr. David S. Rosenthal '59 did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.

Rosenthal last week said the allegations were without merit. He said the UHS safety committee had reviewed the complaints and found them groundless.

Rosenthal also said he did not expect OSHA to go forward with an investigation. And he said a January 1992 accreditation report by the Illinois-based Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which The Crimson has requested unsuccessfully from UHS, called UHS safety procedures "the most exceptional they had ever seen."

A current employee last week confirmed the former worker's descriptions of paper bags used to transport specimens.

In the same electronic mail memo, Skane directed her staff to refer all questions from The Crimson to Rosenthal.

The current employee also criticized UHS for failing to post the OSHA letter and notify lab workers immediately after it was received. The employee said the memo led some workers to ask questions, and the laboratory staff was informed of the OSHA allegations on April 2.