Fines & Sanctions

Blood Collection Company Fined $25,000

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A New Jersey-based company that operated four blood collection facilities in Connecticut without the proper approvals has been fined $25,000 by state health officials. Accu Reference Medical Lab has acknowledged it ran the blood collection sites without obtaining a necessary written certificate of approval from the state, according to a consent order released by the state Department of Public Health. Operating the centers prior to that regulatory approval violates state law. The facilities, which in some cases operated illegally for nearly a year, have been shut down since DPH issued an interim cease and desist order to the company in October. Konstantin Bas, the licensee for Accu Reference, signed the DPH consent order, agreeing to its contents.

I-Team In-Depth

Restraints, Seclusions Target Students With Autism, New Report Shows

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Children with autism were the most frequently subjected to restraint or seclusion in Connecticut schools in the 2012-13 school year, according to a new state report that tallied more than 33,000 incidents of physical restraint or seclusion in public schools and private special education programs.

The report from the state Department of Education shows that autism was the primary disability among special education students subject to “emergency” restraint or seclusion, with 40.4 percent of all such incidents involving a child with autism. Autism also accounted for nearly half of all cases in which children were put in seclusion as part of their individualized education plans, or IEPs. The report shows a slight decline from the previous year in the overall number of students restrained or secluded, and a drop in reports of injuries – from 840 in 2011-12, to 378 last year. But the number of serious injuries rose from eight to 10, and more than 900 reported episodes of seclusion or restraint lasted more than an hour. “This is just so disheartening,” said Shannon Knall of Simsbury, policy chair of the Connecticut chapter of Autism Speaks, an advocacy group.