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Subject: [DCHAS-L] Charges Dropped Against UCLA Professor In Deadly Lab Fire
Date: Friday, October 5, 2018 at 12:53:12 PM
Author: "Hildreth,Cheri L." <cheri.hildreth**At_Symbol_Here**LOUISVILLE.EDU> 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Charges Dropped Against UCLA Professor In Deadly Lab Fire
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 18:14:58 +0000
Author: "Wright, Mike"

From: Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Charges Dropped Against UCLA Professor In Deadly Lab Fire
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2018 12:28:18 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CALDugaanyc00aJUMbc5p00M9OfLbciRQT9E0Xb=KFn1A4KvoXQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


Paul et al,
Perhaps a mangled quote from Kurt Vonnegut,Jr.who was an old Indiana boy ame as mea md Cole Porter, "So it goes." I think attributed to one of his characters, Kilgore Trout the unsuccessful sceince fiction writer, who on his way to receive somen ebulous award, wandered through a polluted stream downstream of where a mafia-based hazardous waste firmr had bulit an elaborate mechanism that just let the waste flow right through.

As Spider Robinson once observed:" God is an Iron." (think about the word "irony")

Enough said.

But throwing blame at whoever, doesn't solve anythng. Actually makes attorneys rich and impoverishes academic institutions who could be doing better things with their funds. Suppose the U had thrown all those funds to a researcher who fould a new cure for cancer or some other horrible chronic disease? So some lawyers get to go to Bermuda or whereever and do things I wouldn't do? That make the world a little bt better?

The world isn't exactly how all of us should wish it to be .Let us all do what we can, in small ways, to make it netter. Guess this and many issues a got a feather up my backside.

Alan
Alan H. Hall, M.D.



On Fri, Oct 5, 2018 at 11:34 AM Harrison, Paul <pharriso**At_Symbol_Here**mcmaster.ca> wrote:
Oh, if only it were so simple! Why do more and more people seem to believe that things are black or white? This tragedy has been investigated so thoroughly BECAUSE it is a very complex and unique situation. The result is not "right" or "wrong" but the sum of multiple considerations. It is overly simplistic to say that "PIs are always responsible" or to state that they should never be. The next event will be different (and hopefully less tragic) but there will be a whole new set of considerations, another set of lawyers.... and so it goes. We can either study each event in depth and with consideration of all the arguments, or just hope that others will do so, but I do not buy that we can or should weigh in with unconsidered generalizations.

Paul


From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] on behalf of Reinhardt, Peter [peter.reinhardt**At_Symbol_Here**YALE.EDU]
Sent: October 5, 2018 9:14 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Charges Dropped Against UCLA Professor In Deadly Lab Fire

Readers of this list may find interesting (or depressing) the comments posted at the on-line version of this article.

https://cen.acs.org/safety/lab-safety/Charges-dropped-against-UCLA-chemistry/96/web/2018/09?utm_source=NonMember&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=CEN

There remains a large number of academic PIs who believe that Harran was a scapegoat and PIs should not be held responsible for laboratory accidents. I disagree, but I heard this sentiment from quite a few of them.

Pete Reinhart, Yale EHS

-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of DCHAS Membership Chair
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2018 7:27 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Charges Dropped Against UCLA Professor In Deadly Lab Fire

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpatch.com%2Fcalifornia%2Fcenturycity%2Fcharges-dropped-against-ucla-professor-deadly-lab-fire&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cpeter.reinhardt%40yale.edu%7C8fec6d9f22ee476013f508d618a39a5d%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C636723488280568065&amp;sdata=d8qtuWquEc4nGA3DteEpcsYdj7hiFlEeqgWHyY9ZFwE%3D&amp;reserved=0

LOS ANGELES, CA - Criminal charges stemming from a 2008 laboratory fire that killed a research assistant were dismissed against a UCLA chemistry professor last week, nine months earlier than expected and over the objection of prosecutors, the District Attorney's Office confirmed Tuesday.

Patrick Harran entered into a five-year deferred-prosecution agreement with the District Attorney's Office in 2014. Under the agreement, Harran was ordered to meet a series of requirements, including 800 hours of non- teaching community service at the UCLA Hospital System/UCLA Health Services.

Although that agreement was not scheduled to end until next June, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George Lomeli ruled during a hearing last Thursday that Harran had already met all the terms of the agreement, and he dismissed the criminal case against him, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Greg Risling, spokesman for the District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors objected to the dismissal, which was granted "nine months earlier when the case was set to be dismissed."

Harran, who still works at UCLA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

===

Slightly more information available at

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmynewsla.com%2Fcrime%2F2018%2F09%2F11%2Fcharges-dismissed-against-ucla-professor-over-deadly-2008-lab-fire%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7Cpeter.reinhardt%40yale.edu%7C8fec6d9f22ee476013f508d618a39a5d%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C636723488280568065&amp;sdata=XAiJNzxi2bJ6Qpym1WJ%2FWTEECX7FHujpzTl0ENHmqmE%3D&amp;reserved=0

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