23 December 2005

By Candia Dames


Hundreds of Bahamians seeking to confirm the paternity of children have reportedly been taking DNA tests at a local facility, but an official in the Ministry of Health said on Thursday that the operation should be licensed, but is operating illegally.

However, an analyst at Masterscan said the operation has a business license and has been legally advised that it does not need to be licensed by health regulators.

"They want to call [it] a laboratory, but where is the equipment?" asked Garvin Gibson, who told The Bahama Journal that he’s a trained genetic researcher. "All we do is lick stamps and mail envelopes."

Mr. Gibson said officials at Masterscan take saliva swabs of "alleged" fathers and children then mail them to Lapcorp, a lab in the United States, so the samples can be analysed. The fee is $450 per test, which he said is reasonable given that Masterscan "sells truth".

Within two weeks, Mr. Gibson said, clients get results they can trust.

According to Lapcorp’s website, the company’s main address is in North Carolina.

"This company pricks and prods for profit," the website says. "Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp) is one of the top providers of clinical laboratory services in the world. LabCorp performs more than 4,000 types of tests for clients such as hospital, pharmaceutical firms, physicians, HMOs, government agencies, and employers."

The website also says its services include clinical research, paternity and forensics tests, and predictive testing for breast and ovarian cancer.

"The doctors in the States do all of the laboratory work and they basically provide me with finished documents detailing their findings," explained Mr. Gibson, who showed the Journal a sample report from LabCorp.

"The report is done by the lab and the doctor reviews their work and then signs off on it if everything is done properly."

But Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis said the Ministry of Health knows nothing about the work of Masterscan.

"There are many concerns this raises, including false results, informed consent and who has access to the data," Dr. Dahl-Regis said.

Mr. Gibson said his operation would only fall under the purview of health authorities if it drew blood and he explained that only saliva samples are taken.

In fact, he explained that the clients are really the ones taking their own samples as they put the Q-tips in their mouths and seal the samples "in my presence".

"Then I mail it," Mr. Gibson said.

An official at the Healthcare Facilities Board also confirmed on Thursday that Masterscan is not licensed with the regulatory body to conduct DNA testing.

But Mr. Gibson explained to The Bahama Journal that the operation is a legitimate one because there are medical doctors involved.

"There’s nothing that covers [the taking of saliva] under the health department," he said. "We’re standing on our grounds as far as Masterscan Ltd. is concerned. We use licensed doctors who have health certificates."

Mr. Gibson said clients seeking paternity tests have been filing into the Robinson Road facility, which operates in affiliation with Complete Family Practice, a clinic run by Dr. Brian Tynes.

However, Dr. Dahl-Regis said if Masterscan is taking saliva samples, then that’s a medical procedure that does fall under the purview of health regulators.

Mr. Gibson, meanwhile, said he is responsible for ensuring that all samples are accounted for and he indicated that Masterscan is providing a crucial service to the Bahamian community.

He said that while most clients are adults trying to confirm the paternity of children for the purposes of child support, there have been cases of adults also trying to confirm who their fathers are, or were.

Mr. Gibson said in one instance, a body was exhumed to determine whether a deceased man really was the father of the client.

In another case, he said, a woman found out that she was not the biological mother of a child because nurses at a Florida hospital reportedly made a mistake. According to Mr. Gibson, the woman was eventually united with her biological child because of the service of Masterscan.

"DNA testing for paternity issues, I would say is vital," he said. "Primarily persons work during their adult life usually for their future and the future of their children, their families…and that [child] is likely to be the greatest investment of that person’s life. I advise people that if there is a question in your mind, $450 isn’t much to pay."

Since it started operating in early 2003, Mr. Gibson said Masterscan has had more than 300 clients. In February, he said the company conducted free testing and more than 110 families from New Providence and the Family Islands.

"It’s growing every day," said Mr. Gibson, who claimed that clients have included religious leaders, government officials and "everyday" people.

"This [service] is almost on the borderline of life and death. Your kids are everything…To find out that you’ve been raising these kids all this time and one of them or none of them is yours, that’s almost a waste of your life."