Children’s Access to Medical Vials at Clinic Probed

Officials are investigating how four children playing outside a medical clinic had such easy access to unlocked laboratory boxes, exposing them to vials of blood, urine and other medical specimens.

No charges will be filed against the four boys, ages 7 to 13, for tampering with the medical samples or Lakeside Medical Associates, where the boxes were stored awaiting pickup to laboratories in Los Angeles, Brown said.

There are apparently no laws governing the shipment of such specimens to laboratories.

“To them they might as well been some magic potion, they’re 9 years old and haven’t been versed in biohazards or anything else,” said Leslie Valencia, whose son handled some of the samples.

Four boxes filled with at least 50 samples, including blood, urine, pap smears, and biopsies, were left in a parking lot behind the facility in the 600 block of Glenoaks Boulevard on Tuesday evening, police said.

Police said the children broke some of the vials on the sidewalk, dumping contents from one container to another. Some of them spilled the medical specimens on their hands.

A Lakeside clinic official said the boxes are supposed to be locked and anchored to the back door of the facility.

Officials from Los Angeles County Department of Health, the district attorney’s office, the state Board of Medical Examiners and Cal/OSHA are investigating.