Woman sues over being ‘scalped’ in hair sample drug test

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A North Side woman has sued a drug-testing lab and an unidentified lab technician, saying the lab negligently took too much hair from her head, causing disfigurement, embarrassment and permanent hair loss.

Juanita Walters of Alameda Avenue sued Quest Diagnostics Inc. of Madison, N.J., in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Walters said she went to the lab’s Austintown location for a hair sample drug screening that was required for her residency application for a Niles apartment complex last summer.

After that visit, the landlord told her she needed to return to the lab because the lab hadn’t taken enough of her hair to perform the test.

Her complaint stems from her re-visit to the lab a week later.

“Defendant, Quest Diagnostics Inc., by and through its technician, defendant Jane Doe, failed to perform the hair sample drug test in a reasonably prudent manner and, as a direct and proximate cause of same, scalped plaintiff by removing a grossly excessive amount of hair from the back of her scalp,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit, filed by Atty. Gregg A. Rossi of Youngstown, demands a jury trial and damages in excess of $25,000.

Quest spokesman, Denny Moynihan declined to comment.

The case is assigned to Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.