Boys Get Into Lab Samples Behind Clinic

Four children broke into laboratory boxes awaiting pickup outside a Burbank medical clinic and played with the blood, urine and other biological specimens, perhaps 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, said Burbank Police Lt. Larry Koch.

“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 contacted the parents of the other boys and urged them to take their sons for medical tests.

Authorities were also looking into the possibility the boys were trying to steal the materials, Koch said. He declined to identify the boys.

A top county health official expressed surprise at the incident, saying the risks to the youths could be significant.

If the boys had injuries “to their hands like a bruise or a cut and if any of these specimens were infected specimens, [they] need to be seen by a physician somewhere,” said Dr. James Haughton, director of Public Health Programs and Services for Los Angeles County. “If they by chance got any of the specimens into their mouths or their eyes, they also need to be evaluated.

“It seems strange that they would put specimens outside where children or anyone could get to them,” Haughton said. “In county labs the courier comes inside to pick up the specimens.”

Dr. Kerry Wiener, president of Lakeside Medical Associates of Glendale, which employs 20 doctors in five clinics stretching from the Antelope Valley to North Hollywood, said his firm was investigating the incident but he minimized possible dangers to the boys.

“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 Laboratories, said Wiener. It is standard operating procedure for the firm to leave the samples in metal boxes locked and anchored to the back door of the facility, he said.

But police detectives said the samples were left in unsecured containers and that they were investigating possible violations “based on the condition of the samples,” Koch said.

A Lakeside employee told police it was not company policy to lock the boxes, police sources said.

Haughton, the county health official, said he knew of no state or county laws governing the placement of medical samples, adding that he thought none was needed.

“There are laws that regulate the function of laboratories and the quality of work they do. But where someone places a specimen to be picked up is common sense,” he said. “That’s not the kind of thing you try to regulate.

“You’re dealing here with medical people who should know better and laboratory people who know better.”