- Nearly a dozen laboratory workers have been diagnosed with cancer in the past two decades
- More than a thousand former employees could also be at risk
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Health officials have launched an investigation into an “unusual” cluster of cancer cases among workers at a research facility run by a major U.S. healthcare provider.
According to employees, four people currently working in a laboratory at UNC Health in North Carolina, and 10 to 12 former employees, have been affected by the disease over the past 20 years.
Because of the “possible pattern” in the cancer diagnoses, all medical students, staff and laboratory workers received warnings last month — and the Centers for Disease Control will now begin an official investigation.
The facility estimates that more than 1,000 people have worked at the laboratory – McLendon Clinical Laboratories – over the past two decades, which is located on the first floor of the main UNC Health hospital in Chapel Hill.
UNC Health is a prominent healthcare system in North Carolina
Hospital management is attempting to contact all current and former laboratory workers and has not revealed how many cases of cancer have been diagnosed in people who work or have worked at the laboratory.
Stephen Finch, the vice president of operations at UNC Health, told According to the Daily Tar Heel, hospital management is unsure if there is a link between laboratory activity and the cancer diagnoses.
People working in the laboratory studied blood and tissue samples, as well as pathological test results. While the investigation is ongoing, the laboratory remains open and conducting its operations.
A spokesperson for UNC Health told DailyMail.com that the system does not have access to employees’ medical records to confirm their health status and that the investigation was prompted solely by reported individuals.
Following the reports, UNC Hospitals leadership contacted the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to request a review of the situation by the state’s occupational and environmental epidemiology staff.
UNC has also submitted a request for a health hazard evaluation to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
A health hazard assessment is an examination of a workplace to find out whether workers are exposed to hazardous materials or harmful conditions.
Representatives from NCDHHS visited UNC Hospitals on January 23 to assess laboratory space. A full report is expected within three weeks.
In addition, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health accepted UNC Hospitals’ request for a review of the laboratory, which began Monday.
The hospital is currently awaiting further details.
The spokesperson added, “UNC Health is committed to working closely with the appropriate agencies throughout this process and communicating proactively and transparently with our teammates and the community.
“We plan to share more information as it becomes available. Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of all North Carolina residents, including our teammates across the state.”
The CDC’s website for unusual patterns of cancer conditions could result from behavioral risks, social determinants of health, occupational exposures, and environmental exposures.
Some of these patterns can be classified as a “cancer cluster,” defined as “a greater than expected number of the same or etiologically related cancer cases occurring within a group of people in a geographic area over a period of time.”
UNC Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system owned by the State of North Carolina. It includes hospitals and medical facilities throughout the state and is based in Chapel Hill at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
UNC Health hospitals are among the top 10 hospitals nationally in the United States.
The system consists of 15 hospitals, 19 hospital campuses and more than 900 clinics, along with the UNC School of Medicine’s clinical patient care programs.