TORONTO – An independent review has found that a controversial hair analysis program in Toronto that tested for drug and alcohol use was “inadequate and unreliable” for use in child protection and criminal proceedings.
The program – called Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory – was run by the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children.
The review, which was ordered by the Ontario government last November, found that between 2005 and 2015 the laboratory did not meet internationally recognized forensic standards.
Susan Lang, a retired appeal court justice who led the review, says the use of Motherisk’s hair-testing evidence in child protection and criminal proceedings has “serious implications” for the fairness of those proceedings and warrants additional review.
In April, children’s aid societies were told to immediately stop using the program.
At that time, the Ontario government said the review of the Motherisk program would be expanded to all tests done at the laboratory over the past five years.
Last year, Ontario’s highest court set aside a criminal conviction on the basis of differing expert opinions about a particular hair-testing method previously used by Motherisk.
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