[Histonet] Research and Clinical Labs

[Jay Lundgren]

Amos,

     I don't know the answer, but this is a really interesting question.  I
have worked both in the Research and Clinical Histology Laboratory and I
have never seen the two mixed, which begs the question, "Why?".
    Maybe it's just because, if you go through the trouble and expense of
starting a CAP accredited lab, processing patient specimens is so
remunerative for the owner of the Pathology lab, why would they want to do
anything else?
    Conversely, if you are a university or corporate owner of a Research
Laboratory, your PI would get PO'ed if some Pathology Resident adding blocks
to the tissue processor after hours, and not restarting it, messes us an
experiment that had taken a year and ten thousand man-hours of meticulous
lab time to get to the tissue block stage.
     Maybe there is a pertinent regulation.  In my opinion, it sounds like a
really good way to spread zoonotic infection.


Sincerely,

Jay A. Lundgren M.S., HTL (ASCP)