Prisons across New York withheld family visits and parole from more than 1,000 inmates on the basis of faulty drug tests for months, according to a damning report from the New York state inspector general released Tuesday. Tests made by the company Microgenics repeatedly returned “rampant false positive[s]” for buprenorphine, an opioid often used in addiction treatment, and synthetic cannabinoids. In all, 1,600 inmates suffered punishment, including solitary confinement, because the state used the tests over an eight-month period in 2019. Despite a rule that a positive test must be followed up with a more sensitive test, officials rarely did so, instead repeating a Microgenics test, according to the report. Inspector General Lucy Lang said Tuesday, “This stands as a heartbreaking example of how the absence of transparency can undermine due process and basic human rights.”
