Thursday, October 24th, 2019, NAAG Pathology labs issued a public statement concerning the withdrawal as the company overseeing the office of the Lubbock County Medical Examiner.

NAAG claims that there are misleading statements being made to media outlets by others within the county's administration, and that they either don't understand or choose to ignore legal considerations for protecting the integrity of a trained, certified forensic pathologist.

They also claim that their team and local families are paying the price for what they see as a political vendetta.

KAMC News reports that the company was accused in 2 separate lawsuits of harvesting the organs of dead children without the families' consent.

Read the full statement by NAAG below:

In May 2019, our group announced it would not renew its contract with Lubbock County because of the toxic political environment and “personal political agendas” of some public officials.

 

It is clear based on the continued statements being made by county officials that these outrageous, false and defamatory activities will continue, with local families caught in the middle.

 

Our attorneys previously provided the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office with an outline of the steps that are needed to be taken for us to help responsibly resolve the outstanding cases, and on Tuesday had a positive call with that office. It seemed from the call that Lubbock County was interested in addressing this matter cooperatively.

 

However, it is clear from the misleading statements being made to the media by others within the county’s administration that those officials do not understand or are choosing to ignore the most basic legal considerations for protecting the integrity, security, accuracy and quality of work of a trained, certified forensic pathologist. None of this would be an issue had the county followed our reasonable proposal to resolve these cases and we believe the county could have recruited a highly qualified forensic pathologist as its medical examiner were it not for this political mess.

 

It is vital that all recognize that the medical examiner’s office is an integral part of the criminal justice system. The accuracy and quality of its work is vital to providing justice for victims of crimes and assuring that the innocent are not wrongfully accused. This role should not be ignored or taken lightly for political reasons.

 

We regret that local families, and our team, are now both paying the price for what appears to be a political vendetta. It would have been far more productive for Dr. Lang to have returned our phone call last week to try to constructively discuss these issues as opposed to carrying on a media campaign that only harms the citizens of Lubbock County.


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