FTC published letter re LabCorp, Orchid Cellmark - too late, too lackluster

My guess is that Ohio’s Governor John Kasich isn’t going to be any happier than I am with the FTC Secretary Donald S. Clark’s portrayal of competition in forensic DNA testing, at least not after the governor is made aware that Ohio is picking up half the tab for tests at @$2,250 a pop this year after paying @$35 for better tests in 2004, especially since what formerly would have taken a day will now take months. 

Apparently the FTC decided to only review one of my many emailed letters. Had Secretary Clark referenced any of my documented concerns, it would have identified which one. I didn’t receive a copy of Sec. Clark’s letter in the mail, or via email … I found it on the FTC’s website.

At any rate, I’m thinking that Gov. Kasich isn’t going to see any more signs of a “relatively unconcentrated” market in forensic DNA testing than I do. I’ll check.

In case the .pdf is not showing on your screen, the FTC’s letter  is available here.

Update 2/5/12 – I wrote to Ohio’s governor, as I indicated I would. Ohio received over $2.7M in DNA backlog grants last year … here’s hoping Gov. Kasich insists it buys definitive testing of 85,985 pieces of evidence rapidly instead of haphazard testing of 1,216 pieces of evidence at a snail’s pace.

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