Clinical Pathology Laboratory Manager Is Sued for Manufacturing a Fake Lab Test Report for a Sexually-Transmitted Disease
Ex-employee of Quest Diagnostics allegedly also breached patient privacy laws
By manufacturing a fake positive clinical pathology laboratory test report for a sexually transmitted disease (STD), a medical laboratory manager in Alton, Illinois, set in motion a series of events that made headlines in St. Louis-area newspapers earlier this year. These actions also generated a lawsuit against clinical laboratory manager Maureen Sackmann and her then-employer, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX).
The story is worthy of the best television soap opera plot—and has plenty of cautionary lessons for all clinical laboratory managers and pathologists. Press accounts of the episode indicate that, while working for Quest Diagnostics in Alton, Illinois, Sackmann noticed that a laboratory test report had been generated for a woman (identified only as Jane Doe) who was dating her ex-boyfriend.
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