Globe was dead on arrival this morning.
"State lags in testing for causes of deaths" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe correspondent May 15, 2014
A cost-cutting measure by the state medical examiner’s office has caused extensive delays in determining the cause of unexplained deaths, creating a backlog of hundreds of cases and leaving some families waiting several months for answers.
Since last July, the time it takes for the office to generate post-mortem toxicology test results has increased eightfold, from an average of two weeks to about four months, making it difficult for relatives to collect insurance benefits, close out estates, and come to understand how their loved one died.
“We fully anticipated a little spike in the turnaround time, but we didn’t anticipate it to be so long,” said Curtis M. Wood, the state’s forensic science and technology undersecretary.
The delays began last July after the office dropped its go-to tester, UMass Memorial Toxicology Laboratory, and the lab’s $1.9 million annual contract, and instead gave the responsibility to the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory, which said it can do the work for $1.3 million a year.
OMG!
The state, however, underestimated how long it would take to hire and train staff and to adjust equipment, said Wood, who oversees the crime lab, the medical examiner’s office, and several related state offices. Also to blame, he said, are delays in construction that, when complete, will allow for the toxicology testing operation to move to a State Police drug lab in Sudbury.
Wood said he is confident the office’s turnaround time on toxicology testing will return to normal levels within several months.
But that provides little solace to families caught up in the backlog.
Or anyone else reading this! We are tired of the excuses for $hit government!
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Governor Deval Patrick’s proposed budget included increasing the annual allocation for the medical examiner’s office from about $10 million to $12.3 million. The House, in its version of the budget, approved $12 million, while the Senate on Wednesday proposed $11.9 million. The extra funding, which would be determined as part of a compromise between the chambers, would allow the office to hire additional medical examiners, legal experts, morgue technicians, and other support staff, Wood said.
The toxicology testing delays come as public safety officials in Massachusetts scramble to combat a spike in suspected heroin overdoses, potentially fueled by the drug being laced with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
Oh, not kool, dude!
But state officials said the increase in suspected overdoses has not contributed to toxicology testing delays, nor have the toxicology delays curbed efforts to fight the overdoses.
The number of death investigations in which toxicology testing was ordered remained relatively steady in 2012 and 2013.
Even with the ongoing delays, the state can prioritize certain toxicology tests to get results back sooner.
“We can get a test back in three or four weeks if we have to,” Wood said.
Meaning if you don't your loved one is not important.
Unexpected, violent, or suspicious deaths are referred to the medical examiner’s office, which then determines if a death investigation is required.
Nothing like letting an investigative trail go cold or give perps a chance to escape.
Wood said that the majority of death investigations involve toxicology tests, as well as other tests, reviews, and analyses on a case-by-case basis.
The goal of every investigation is to determine the cause and manner of death, which cannot be done until results come back for every test that is ordered in a case, officials said.
“It’s important not only from a public safety and health standpoint and a legal standpoint for the Commonwealth, but also for the families and loved ones so they can know what happened,” Wood said.
The state works with families to help them avoid setbacks with life insurance benefit collection and closing out estates. But sometimes the only way to complete such paperwork is to wait for the results.
“We recognize that we need to conclude the investigation as quickly as possible,” Wood said. “But science sometimes takes time.”
Last year, the Springfield Republican reported how the retirement in 2011 of one of the two medical examiners at the Holyoke medical examiner’s office caused delays for autopsy reports in Western Massachusetts, with some families waiting more than a year for findings.
The delays have only gotten worse, said Jay Czelusniak, a Northampton funeral home owner and head of the Western Massachusetts Independent Funeral Directors Association.
“When toxicology tests are involved, we used to tell families it will take four to eight weeks,” he said.
“Now it’s three to six months, if you’re lucky. And we’ve had families that have waited much longer than six months.”
Dr. Gregory G. Davis, chief medical examiner of Jefferson County in Alabama, said that toxicology results at his office have rarely taken longer than three to four weeks.
Davis also serves as president of the National Association of Medical Examiners, which he said holds a standard that medical examiners should complete 90 percent of autopsy reports within 90 days.
But, the association has no standard specific to toxicology turnaround time, and he said there are some offices in other states where toxicology results often take between six and eight months.
“Once you fall behind, it’s very hard to catch back up,” he said.
Tell me about it.
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Related:
"Mass. lawmakers pledge to examine state boards; Outdated panels may be abolished" by Todd Wallack | Globe Staff May 19, 2014
A state Senate panel is vowing to bring new scrutiny to about 700 state boards in Massachusetts, exploring the possibility of abolishing panels that have outlived their usefulness, consolidating others, or redefining their missions.
The news follows the Globe’s report last month that more than a third of the 4,800 seats on state boards and commissions were either empty or filled with holdover members whose term expired long ago. In addition, some of the boards hadn’t met in years, the Globe found.
See: Board With My Boston Sunday Globe
“It should be an issue,” said Senator Cynthia Creem, the Newton Democrat who chairs the committee. Creem said she hopes the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight could review more than a dozen boards before this year’s legislative session ends in January and take on the rest in future years.
“Sometimes these commissions sound like they are not even needed anymore.”
Senate President Therese Murray also suggested that some boards should be eliminated.
“There are some commissions that are worthy of the time and energy spent, but there are too many invented that don’t produce anything,” the Plymouth Democrat said in a statement.
Welcome to Massachusetts!
As of Wednesday, there were 852 vacancies and 901 holdovers, according to a Globe analysis of 698 separate board lists maintained by the governor’s office.
Part of the issue is the sheer difficulty in filling so many seats. Massachusetts has far more boards and commissions than other states its size, overseeing everything from sprinkler fitters to a cranberry research center in East Wareham.
And the empty seats have made it difficult even for some necessary boards to do their jobs. Panels such as the Board of Respiratory Care, which licenses respiratory therapists, have had to repeatedly cancel meetings because of the lack of a quorum.
Meanwhile, some newer boards have struggled to get started because of a lack of members. A commission Patrick set up six years ago to help plan the festivities for the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower has yet to hold its first meeting because 10 of the 15 seats are vacant.
Other boards continue to exist legally even though they have not met for years. The African American Advisory Commission, established by Governor William F. Weld in 1993, hasn’t met since Governor Deval Patrick took office seven years ago and every members’ term expired in 2007. But Patrick never signed an executive order of his own doing away with the board.
The governor’s office, which is charged with filling most of the appointments, said the task is challenging in part because many of the seats are reserved for people who meet specific qualifications. One of the vacant positions on the nursing board, for instance, is reserved for a physician, while another is set aside for a licensed practical nurse in a long-term care setting.
Not enough elites to fill them?
Hundreds of other board members must first be recommended by outside groups before they can be appointed. And the vast majority of members on state boards are unpaid volunteers who are often asked to attend long meetings during the standard workday.
“It’s ponderous and slow work because not everyone wants to serve on those boards,” Patrick told reporters at the State House last month.
They want to $erve (themselves).
Nearly 41 percent of the 3,127 seats under his control were vacant or holdovers, according to the most recent count available. But the governor’s office said it has nearly 500 appointments or reappointments in the pipeline. “I am pleased with the progress we are making,” Patrick said.
Does he have a pull string in his back?
Still, the governor said it is worth considering setting up a formal “sunset” process — under which boards are automatically terminated after a certain number of years unless the state finds evidence that they are still needed.
About half of other states already have some sort of sunset procedure for agencies or boards, though the details vary widely.
Rapidly fading on this post.
Btw, rainy, cloudy, and mid 50s today. Some May. Almost summer, too!
“I think it is worth looking at whether all of the boards serve a current need,” Patrick said.
The Senate previously approved legislation in 2011 that would set up a sunset review process as part of a broader government reform bill, but it was removed from the final version during negotiations with the House.
Patrick has proposed other measures to reduce the number of boards, including consolidating nearly 260 housing boards across the state into six regional panels, that have yet to be approved by lawmakers.
Two gubernatorial candidates also expressed concern about the sheer number of boards and vacancies in Massachusetts.
“I think the sunsetting process is a really good idea,” said Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker. “It would force everyone to engage in a discussion [about the boards] on some regular basis.”
But Baker also said the governor’s office should do more to make sure it fills seats on key boards, such as those that license and police professionals like nurses and respiratory therapists, so the work isn’t postponed. “Those positions need to be filled,” Baker said.
State Treasurer Steven Grossman, one of five Democrats running for governor, also said he thought it was worth examining whether some boards could be eliminated. “There are a very large number of boards,” Grossman said. “It is probably too many.”
Grossman said he also thought the state might be able to do more to recruit and retain members for the boards that remain. “If you are going to recruit people to serve on a board or a commission, you have got to make it meaningful and you’ve got to make it relevant,” he said.
House Speaker Robert DeLeo declined to comment through a spokesman.
Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight is still in the early stages of taking a look at the issue of state boards and hasn’t decided whether to hold hearings, according to a staff member....
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