Flawed results by Motherisk Drug Lab at SickKids to be reviewed by judge

The Ontario cabinet has finalized details on anindependent commission that will help families affected by flawedtesting by the Motherisk Drug Laboratory run by the Toronto Hospitalfor Sick Children.

The program that used hair analysis to test for drug and alcoholuse in thousands of child protection and criminal caseswas deemed"inadequate and unreliable" in a government-commissioned reportreleased last month.

Commissioner Susan Lang found Motherisk fell short ofinternational forensic standards for use in child protection andcriminal proceedings, and said the lab "frequently misinterpreted"the test results.

Provincial court judge Judith Beaman will lead a two-year reviewthat will start by trying to identify people involved in childprotection matters who were impacted by a flawed Motherisk test.

Lang's report found more than 9,000 people tested positivethrough Motherisk between 2005 and 2015, but Beaman's review willlook back 25 years, to 1990.

Beaman will also head a resource centre that will provide legalcounselling and other supports to families, and says she hopes herwork will help those affected understand what happened and to moveforward.