Children Open Lab Box, Play With Blood Samples

Four children opened laboratory boxes awaiting pickup outside a Burbank medical clinic and played with the blood, urine and other biological specimens, possibly exposing themselves to infection, Burbank police said Wednesday.

The samples had been left behind Lakeside Medical Associates in the 600 block of Glenoaks Boulevard on Tuesday when the boys, ages 7 to 13, discovered them in apparently unlocked metal cases, Burbank Police Lt. Larry Koch said.

“They played with the blood, tissue and urine samples,” Koch said. “Some of [the specimens] were broken on the sidewalk. Some had the contents poured out. They were dumping them from vial to vial. Some of the kids actually got fluids on their hands.”

Koch said the parents of one boy contacted police Tuesday night. Police then called the parents of the other boys and urged them to take their sons for medical tests.

Dr. Kerry Wiener, president of Lakeside Medical Associates of Glendale, which employs 20 doctors in five clinics from the Antelope Valley to North Hollywood, said his firm was investigating.

“This is very upsetting. It’s going to mean that some people will need to repeat their blood tests,” Wiener said.

“I think the health risk to the kids is minimal. But there’s always a remote possibility you could transmit a blood-borne virus.”

The boxes probably contained “mostly blood specimens and some small skin biopsies” awaiting pickup by Smithkline Beecham Clinical labs, Wiener said. It is standard procedure for the firm to leave the samples in metal boxes locked and anchored to the back door of the facility, he said.