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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ind. Courts - "State's toxicology department might be better off on its own than under the administration of IU's medical school"

Supplementing these ILB entries from May 13, May 14, and May 29, 2010, that is how this story by Will Higgins in today's Indianapolis Star begins, reporting on the Friday's report of "a panel charged with investigating the troubled department." (It is unclear whether there was a written report, none is available on the Governor's Council's website, but neither are any details on the 5-member group, any minutes, etc.)

More from today's story:

The five-member group, appointed by the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving in March, found that "the placement of the Indiana State Department of Toxicology at the Indiana University School of Medicine is not compatible with the medical school's mission," said Linda Chezem, a former appeals court judge who led the group.

That finding could be Round 1 of a long battle because IU wants to hold on to the department it has administered for more than half a century.

A group of IU administrators attended the panel's presentation, joined by former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman, whom IU expects to hire as a consultant to help make improvements and restore lost confidence among the state's prosecutors. * * *

The Governor's Council voted unanimously to accept its panel's recommendations and agreed to form a task force to explore new legislation that would separate the toxicology department from the university.

The General Assembly approved the arrangement in the 1950s, and it would be up to the legislature to change it.

Indiana's is thought to be the only state toxicology department in the nation operated by a university.

A parallel problematic situation, IMHO, involves the Indiana state chemist being part of Purdue University. See these ILB entries from Feb. 14 and May 25, 2010.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 12, 2010 08:49 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government | Indiana Law