Pubdate: Sat, 29 Nov 2014
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Page: 3
Copyright: 2014 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Authors: Rachel Mendleson and Richard J. Brennan

MOTHERISK INVESTIGATION SEEN AS 'POSITIVE'

Ontario's Child Advocate Lauds Review Of Five Years' Worth Of Lab
Tests At Sick Kids

Ontario's child advocate is praising Queen's Park's decision to probe
the reliability of hair drug tests performed at the Hospital for Sick
Children, used in child protection and criminal cases.

"I welcome the move," Irwin Elman, provincial advocate for children
and youth, told reporters Friday. "The move to be more transparent, to
look into it, is important. I couldn't presuppose what the inquiry
will find, but it's a positive step."

Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur formally announced on Friday
retired Court of Appeal Justice Susan Lang will review how five years'
worth of hair drug tests done by Sick Kids' Motherisk laboratory were
used in criminal and child protection proceedings.

The Star has been writing about Motherisk and the hair tests for
weeks, after a Court of Appeal decision cast doubt on results the lab
presented in a 2009 criminal case in which Toronto mother Tamara
Broomfield was found guilty of giving her toddler a nearly fatal dose
of cocaine.

Motherisk's hair drug and alcohol tests are regularly accepted in
courts as an indication of parental substance abuse, and have had
bearing on an unknown number of child custody decisions.

Criminal lawyer Daniel Brodsky, who was previously involved in the
inquiry into flawed child death investigations by disgraced Sick Kids
pathologist Charles Smith, said he is pleased the province has
launched an independent probe into "what may be a very serious problem."

However, Brodsky said the review must be transparent, and should allow
stakeholders to make submissions.

Lang's review is a first step, which will specifically examine the use
of Motherisk's hair drug tests from 2005 to 2010, before the lab
started using a technique widely regarded as the gold-standard, as
well as whether further investigation into past cases is needed.

A spokeswoman for Sick Kids, which has defended the reliability of the
evidence presented in the Broomfield case, told the Star this week the
hospital "welcomes the independent review."

The Court of Appeal tossed Broomfield's cocaine-related convictions in
October, after fresh expert evidence challenged the hair test results
Motherisk presented in the case as "preliminary."  
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D