Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp – New York Stock Exchange Symbol LH) recently reported an increase in fourth-quarter net earnings to $142.7 million, as compared to $118.1 million for the 4th quarter of 2008. The increase in earning were due partly to a gain of $21.5 million from resolving state tax issues and realizing foreign tax credits.

LabCorp’s total revenues for the fourth quarter rose to $1.17 billion, up from $1.12 billion the year before. For the full year, the company had profits of $543.3 million, up from earnings of $464.5 million in 2008. The increase also includes all the income from the labs that Labcorp has acquired.

Labcorp also announced that it will be spending $250 Million to buy back shares of their own stock. Labcorp’s Chairman and CEO David King said “ We remain optimistic about the growth opportunities that lie ahead for us in 2010, and we are well positioned to capitalize on them.”  I highlight the word lie because while he was making the statement, he was filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he had just sold shares of LabCorp stock and pocketed over $171,960 in profits. You would think that when the head of a company announces positive results and claims to be “optimistic about the growth opportunities” he would be buying stock, not selling it. But then he owns lots of LabCorp stock and could have sold for other reasons.

One thing that LabCorp CEO David P. King didn’t boast about is that of a rumored investigation of LabCorp by the US Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program. According to posts in CafePharma.com, LabCorp’s Florida operations are in trouble. They had to settle an employment lawsuit at a rumored cost of about $2.7 Million. In addition, they have a pending Federal lawsuit from a former employee that has not gone too well for them. With allegations of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, LabCorp has had to fire the law firm that was handling the case. The posts include the following:

OFCCP would like to hear from those who have been discriminated against based on a protected characteristic. (personal info removed) A formal recommendation has been made for an investigation of LCA Florida. Those who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, write:

US Department of Labor
Employment Standards Administration
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program
Charles E Bennett Federal Building
400 West Bay Street
Room 939
Jacksonville, Florida 32202

or call:

(904) 351-0551

SUBJECT: LABCORP CONDUCT IN FLORIDA.

 All correspondence is confidential. 

Just last month, LabCorp reported that they made $131.4 Million dollars in profit for the latest quarter, on revenue of $1.19 Billion. That was a 17% increase in profits as compared to the same quarter last year. Obviously LabCorp stock (NYSE: LH) went up to a new yearly high and all the senior executives high-fived each other.

Well that was last month. Just a few days ago Labcorp went to the state and local governments in North Carolina for a handout of taxpayer money.  LabCorp wants to consolidate its billing operations and if it selects Greensboro as the location of the new facility, it would receive nearly $900,000 in taxpayer money. That’s free money from the taxpayers that will never be repaid.

Financial analysts in Wall Street have downgraded LabCorp (LH on the New York Stock Exchange), citing a slow down of testing volume growth and lower prices for their services. The analysts also expect a cut in Medicare payment rates and potentially weaker prices from health insurers. In addition, health care reform could lead to further rate cuts and eliminate the obscene profits that LabCorp makes on some of their niche lab tests.

Will the N1H1 Swine Flu help offset these factors? The answer is a flat out no. LabCorp won’t get much of a boost from a swine flu outbreak because flu testing is only a small part of its business.

Even though LabCorp is buying back their own shares, it may not be enough to maintain the share prices at their current levels. Laboratory Corp. of America announced that they will buy back up to $250 million of common stock under a repurchase plan approved by its directors. LabCorp purchased a total of $500 million worth of shares under its previous stock buy-back plan. About $95 million of those repurchases have taken place since the end of June.

With employee dissatisfaction, pending lawsuits and ongoing management problems, it looks like shares of Laboratory Corporation of America are heading down quickly. Some of the company’s insiders sold the shares ahead of the downgrades.

On 09/08/09 LANE WENDY E, a Director, sold 4,116 shares for $68.70 a share.

On 09/02/09 LANE WENDY E, sold 2,604 shares at $68.78  a share.

On 08/17/09 HARDISON DONALD M, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, sold 854 shares at $69.50 per share.

According to Yahoo Finance, during the past 6 months there have been no insider purchases and 5 insider sales. A total of 12,481 shares have been sold by insiders and a net 12,258,100 shares have been sold by institutions, after taking into account purchases by institutions. It seems that some of those who really know what is going on are selling.

About a year ago this web site was launched as a result of incidents in LabCorp’s Miami, Florida facilities. Before it was launched I had a conversation with Laboratory Corporation of America’s Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Don Hardison. He seemed genuine and acknowledged that Laboratory Corporation of America had many operational problems. He stated that he was fairly new to the company but intended to fix all of them. I believed him.

After a year it looks like Don Hardison has not fixed LabCorp’s problems. I recently contacted the Miami division’s office and was informed that the regional director is still Bob Blanco, and that the Patient Service Center director is still Ana Garcia. I would have thought that after all the damage that these two have caused Laboratory Corporation of America, they would have been terminated. How can you fix a problem when the people creating the problems are at the helm? These two managers outright lied to me, and used the old “lie about them before they tell the truth about you” technique to get away with their incompetence.

The fact that Don Hardison did not fire these two incompetent employees after my complaints makes me believe that he is not as genuine as he first made me believe. He talks the talk but he has not walked the walk. So I now ask, would the real Don Hardison please stand up? The Miami region’s customer service is probably worse than it was a year ago (according to comments on this site). This web site seems to get substantially more complaints about the company and its service centers than before. So what has Don Hardison fixed? All I see is the mask coming off and the real Don Hardison coming out. Just another Laboratory Corporation of America manager covering for the incompetence of those below him. It’s the “If they look good then you look like you are doing your job” philosophy. Forget reality.

In reference to the LabCorp Sucks web site, I intended to pull the plug once these two employees were fired for their actions. Their dismissal by Hardison would have shown that he, and  LabCorp, really mean what they say and that they intend to clean up the company and focus on customer service. That has not happened so this site is still up. Not to sound negative, I think that LabCorp Sucks will be around for a while.

My problems with Labcorp started with the Miami service centers. I went through the proper channels to resolve the matter but instead of getting a resolution, I got insults and disrespect from two Miami LabCorp managers. The Miami region manager, Roberto Blanco, lied and even contradicted his own statements on multiple occasions. From my conversations with him, it is obvious that he has no clue as to what customer service and being a manger is about. He just doesn’t get it. But worst than him was the Manager of Patient Services, who’s name was Ana. You can read the full details in my own Labcorp Complaint.

I recently received an email from Jackie about a LabCorp manager by the name of Ana Garcia, who seems to have no respect for others, whether employees or patients. With poor people skills, she continues to drag the company down. When you treat employees with disrespect and try to rule through fear, the good employees will flee LabCorp, leaving the company with the bad employees that are unable to get a job anywhere else. In addition, since in her mind intimidation works for employees, she uses the same methods on patients.  While the email refers to the manager as Ana Garcia, the email did not contain the region or service center affected by her actions. My gut feeling is that it is the same Ana who called me in reference to my complaint. In my case, instead of trying to resolve the matter,  she insulted me, lied and was outright rude and disrespectful. She, along with Bob Blanco, are the reasons this web site exists.  The email clearly shows that she treats the employees as bad as she treats the patients. Her demoralization of employees leads to their poor attitude, and to LabCorp’s lousy customer service. With all those great managers available as a result of the weak economy, why would LabCorp keep these inept managers? Here’s a portion of the email that Jackie sent me.

I know two LabCorp employees, and I have a comment regarding one of their bosses, Ana Garcia (I’m not sure if it is spelled correctly, nor do I really care as she is so rude), and the patients that go to the sight. The two girls that work at this lab are really sweet, they know what they are doing, and they work so well together that the wait time is not very long.

A good amount of the people that go to this sight really look forward to seeing them, and will sometimes bring them gifts for working so hard and treating them with respect.

Another group of people will scream at them if they do not smile every moment they work, if they are asked to hold on a moment while the employees finish one of their current tasks, or because they did not take the time to tell if their insurance is taken there, etc.

There was recently an incident where a pen was thrown with great force at one of the employees because the patient was asked to leave the pen next to the sign in sheet.

As for Ms. Garcia. She very disrespectfully addressed the employees this evening over matters she explained were not personal. She told the employees there is no reason they should be late, and there is absolutely no such things as emergencies.  One of the employees had an urgent family emergency where a family member’s electric wheelchair broke down in the middle of U.S. 41 highway and needed to help her, seeing as nobody else would. Because of the emergency the employee was a bit late to work, and was thoroughly screamed at for what Ms. Garcia claimed was very unimportant. If that was your family member, I’m sure you would help them rather than leave them stranded on a highway.

Ms. Garcia also screamed at the workers for not smiling every second of their day and told the employees that her complaints were not personal, but at the same time she called the man who works there ugly to his face, and made another employee cry.

If the bosses of the company were not so rude to their workers, it is possible that the workers would have different attitudes.  Something needs to be done about this Ana Garcia, she should be fired but I’m not sure who to speak to.

As I stated above, the workers at this LabCorp sight try to give their all for you, but the bosses make it really hard for them. Thank you

I received an email this weekend from another frustrated patient. What a shame that they are violating Federal disclosure laws and laughing about it.

Well, here is my lab corp story:

I am now about 7 months pregnant, but began going to Lab Corp in the beginning for routine blood tests. They were always unfriendly, but I just let it go. The first thing that really bothered me about them was when my husband had to get blood drawn to make sure he was rh negative so that I wouldn’t need a shot to protect me if my baby had a chance of having positive blood. Well when it came time for my doctor to give me the shot (at 28 weeks into my pregnancy) they still had not received the results from his blood work, which was done 3 months earlier. To top that off I had paid for his testing (around $250) because he does not have health insurance. So I ended up getting the shot anyways (in the butt, and obviously uncomfortable enough that I was willing to pay $250 to avoid it). I still think someone should be liable for the money I wasted on a test that couldn’t get the results back in time. 3 months seems sufficient time to me. I am willing to overlook the fact that I had to get an unnecessary shot because lab corp cant figure it out. After all this, I still had to go to lab corp about a week ago for a gestational diabetes test. I had to fast the night before. The morning I went to go get the test, I had an argument with my husband and being as I was 7 months pregnant, I was pretty upset about it. So I went into lab corp and signed in. I had changed my name to my husband’s last name between this visit and my last. Mind you I have been married for 2 years, but I had put off changing my name and with the baby on the way, I figured it was a good time. So when they didn’t have a record of my new name (which was now on my health insurance card), instead of asking they just had me fill out a new patient sheet. Then when I turned that in (I figured if they didn’t ask I might as well just fill it out) I went and sat back down in the crowded waiting room and prepared to be there for an hour while the drink they gave me hit my blood. When I sat down I overheard them talking about how they finally figured out I had been there before, but my name was different. A male staff member said “Oh, she has been here. Her name is different. She must have gotten married.” and then the female staff member said “oh, well she is pregnant so you know how that goes.” and then they started laughing. At my expense. I wanted to go up there and inform them that I had been married for 2 years, was 25 years old, graduated college, and that my personal life was none of their business, but I was so emotional from the whole day I knew I would just start crying. So I sat there. For a whole hour. And they continued to have personal conversations right there where everyone could hear. I just cant believe that people can be that rude. I don’t know if they think being behind the check in window shields them from the patients, but I was about 10 chairs away and could clearly hear them talking about me. Even if I had gotten married because I got pregnant, it is not their business to be talking about at a place of business. I would love to do something about this, as it is still bothering me. Do you have an address where I can send a letter?

Here’s the address to send in your complaint. Don Hardison is the company’s Chief Operating Officer and he seems to be the only one that cares about straightening out the company. Not that he will do anything, but at least he will make you feel like he will. 

Laboratory Corporation of America
Don Hardison, COO
430 South Spring Street
Burlington, NC 27215

This is a recent article about LabCorp and their practices. The United States Food and Drug Administration believes that LabCorp’s testing “…may harm the public health.” Shame on you LabCorp for putting money before patient’s health.

The US Food and Drug Administration is looking more closely at an ovarian cancer test from Laboratory Corporation of America after deciding that the existing data did not support the test’s commercial use.

 

The FDA Office of In Vitro Device Evaluation and Safety has asked Labcorp to discuss with the agency the utility of its OvaSure Yale test, after it learned that the performance characteristics of the test were based on research that is not representative of the intended pool of patients.

 

In a letter to Labcorp dated August 7, OIVD Director Steve Gutman wrote that the scientific community would not view the study as sufficient to establish performance characteristics for high-risk women who may have ovarian cancer.

 

“Based on our review of your promotional materials and the research,” Gutman wrote, “… we believe you are offering a high risk test that has not received adequate clinical validation, and may harm the public health.” Gutman told Labcorp that OIVD would like to talk to the company about offering the test, and any other strategies the company may have for validating the test.

Here’s an email that I received from a former employee of LabCorp. She worked for a company that was acquired by LabCorp. Her name and department was removed to protect the innocent.

Labcorp sucks as an employer as well….They acquired another lab called Dianon Systems in Stratford, Ct and as of that point treated their employees like crap. When employee after employee left to find another job their position was never filled, therefore making the employees work for dirt cheap and like dogs!! Yet they brag about job opportunities. I am ever so grateful that my position in the XXXXXX department was eliminated..It is giving me an opportunity to find employment from a company that cares for their employees..

Their lab stinks and so does the CEO who says their is an open door policy with him. I never got any replies from him when asked when the employees will lose their job due to the acquisition..We had no chance to save for the medical insurance that was discontinued 2 weeks later…..

Here’s something really interesting. A few weeks ago LabCorp employees started posting comments on this site in support and defense of the company and employees. Shortly thereafter, www.labcorpsucks.com almost dissappeared from the Google search results. There does not appear to be a reasonable explanation for this to happen, as this site has lots of visits from dissatisfied LabCorp patients and is still highly ranked in Yahoo and MSN. I just saw an article in the Medical Quack Blog that may provide some answers (or at least raise some suspicion). It is about the business relationship between Google and LabCorp. I would not put it past LabCorp executives to ask Google to punish this website, but it is hard for me to believe that Google would actually play along with LabCorp and lower the search value of a website based on their own economic interests.

Last month several Genomics companies received warning letters from the State of California and were told they needed to be licensed.  23andMe, which is an offshoot of Google may have a potential solution on the dilemma of the licensing issue with working with LabCorp,  one of the largest labs in the US. 

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Although 23andMe is keeping mum on which contract laboratory it is using to conduct its DTC genomic testing services, GenomeWeb Daily News has learned that Laboratory Corporation of America is providing the necessary genotyping services for the personal genomics company. “I can confirm that we are doing lab work for 23andMe,” Eric Lindblom, LabCorp’s senior vice president for investor and media relations, told GWDN.

…You can also read more about the National Genetics Institute, a subsidiary of LabCorp. LabCorp already has a pretty large stake invested in the genomics business.

Lindblom also noted that LabCorp is CLIA licensed in California and New York, the two states that recently warned 23andMe, along with several other personal genomics firms, to stop marketing genetic tests directly to consumers. One of the reasons cited by regulators was that the consumer genomics firms were not licensed in these states to provide laboratory services.

I had a talk with one of the managers at a service center about the jobs that people perform at the company. Here are some interesting things that she had to say.

1) Job turnover in the Miami region is very high. The revolving door is a result of the way that they operate the company. Labcorp jobs are always availabe because so many leave the company.

2) Managers are not too familiar with who their boss is. They know the name but have never really met them or interacted with them.

3) About Bob Blanco – “Oh, he’s the guy who signs my checks. He’s the big boss. I never met him but he gives the orders to pay me.”

Q: have you ever met him?      A: No but I know him by name.

How can a service center manager not have met the district manager? I guess when you are a district manager that sits around the office, you never really know what is going on outside your little cave. Maybe they need lessons on how to be a successful executive. That “isolation from reality” seems to be a common problem in most districts.

That’s something that I admire about Bank of America. Part of the job requirement to be a banking center manager is that you have to walk around the floor during busy hours and interact with the customers and employees. Now that’s customer service. If you have a question or problem, ask the boss. Forget that executive attitude. The manager is just another person trying to provide a favorable banking experience.