Cross-contamination at Rhode Island drug lab calls 52 cocaine cases into question

An accidental cross-contamination event has placed a scientist and around 52 cases related to cocaine under intense scrutiny. The scientist failed to identify a substance in a blind test correctly, Rhode Island state officials said Friday. The Rhode Island Department of Health said it conducted a routine quality-assurance test at its Forensic Drug Chemistry Lab. Scientists blindly test different types of drug samples in the quality assurance test to ensure they are producing accurate results. During the test, one scientist claimed there was cocaine in a case the department knew...