Indiana State Department of Toxicology is under investigation – Young and Young Attorneys at Law

As your Indiana Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys, we want to discuss the recent problems being revealed with chemical testing at the Indiana State Department of Toxicology.  Included in this category of Indiana Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys are those that drive under the influence of marijuana, illegal street drugs and abused prescription drugs.  All these chemicals impair the judgment and the reaction time of the driver, putting all other users of the roads at risk for serious personal injury and or wrongful death. We represent Hoosiers who are seriously injured or who suffer wrongful death regardless of whether the driver is intoxicated because of alcohol or drugs.  They are the same to us and result in the same types of injuries to our clients.

The Indiana State Department of Toxicology is under investigation for returning questionable test results.  What’s worse is that these results may have been, in some instances intentionally altered to reach the desired result rather than the true result.  This means that some workers at the lab have been intentionally altering test results to show a positive result.  These findings are a problem for Hoosiers in many ways.  First it diminishes the confidence of citizens in or criminal justice system.  If we cannot trust the system to be fair, then the system is not working and must be altered. Second, the victims of drunk driving accidents may be victimized twice.  The first victimization is the injuries from the crash.  The second is from having to know that a person who really was drunk driving is going to have the charges dismissed because of shoddy work performance by the lab.

The only bright side to this mess is that Scott Newman, former Marion County Prosecutor, a man respected by his peers for his honesty is taking the lead in the investigation and is honestly assessing the damage caused by problems at the lab.  In addition, many tests were performed at subcontracted labs.  These test results do not appear to be in doubt.

If you, or a loved one, has been seriously injured in a drunk driving accident, and you have questions about the lab and these issues, and you are not currently represented by an attorney, please feel free to call and discuss your concerns.