A neurological laboratory within the University of Wisconsin hospital complex was closed indefinitely after a UW report was released detailing current lab conditions.

An internal probe called upon by the UW hospital and Medical School found that the lab, known as the Motor Performance Laboratory, has given insufficient training to student workers, put patient privacy at risk and utilized imperfect practices of delivery of hospital services versus research endeavors, according to UW Hospital and Clinics public-affairs manager Lisa Brunette.

Student workers staffed the lab and ran the majority of tests while Dr. Benjamin Brooks supervised the lab. The lab, which is operated by the UW Medical School Department of Neurology, is not closed for good, Brunette said.

“The lab could reopen if issues of concern are addressed,” Brunette said.

Brunette added that a totally separate issue of funding had been plaguing the lab. The Department of Neurology planned to close the lab at the end of 2003 because the lab ran out of money and was projected to lose $60,000 last year.

The lab, which conducts muscle testing and mainly sees patients with muscle disorders, temporarily closed in August after a student was found getting ready to test a patient without proper supervision or training. The month before, an individual who worked at the lab as a student from 1997 to 2001 told administrators that the lab had several errors in management. The lab never reopened after this initial closing.

The main health concerns revolved around patient safety at the hands of under-trained and under-supervised workers, Brunette said.

“The medical school believed patients were put at risk,” she said.

The report released by UW detailed an incident where an individual not employed by the medical school or hospital had performed tests on a patient.

Another worry involved the use of a community password for patient-record access, thus putting privacy at risk. The doctor accused of giving out his password to access patient records, Dr. Mohommed Sanjak, denied any allegations in the report.

The third basic concern raised by the probe was the care of patients under clinical practice through the hospital neurology clinic and the clinical research of Dr. Brooks through the medical school. The probe recommends that if the clinic wishes to use the lab facilities for testing or treatment, reorganization of the lab must be addressed. The board that reviewed the facility also recommends that all patients testing for Dr. Brooks’ research sign a consent form.

Vice Dean Paul DeLuca of the UW Medical School wrote to the neurology department chair, saying, “All of the issues … must be satisfactorily addressed before the laboratory resumes operations.”

Brunette also said the medical school is not looking to put blame on anybody, and no one was fired, but layoff notices were issued to certain individuals earlier in the year because of financial problems.

“We’re not pointing fingers — just, some changes must be made,” Brunette said.

Dr. Brooks’ attorney, Victor Arellano, said UW should not have shut down the lab and proclaims his client’s innocence of any accusations that could surface in the coming months.

“[They] had no reason or basis for closing the lab,” Arellano said, adding he will make his recommendation to Brooks in the upcoming days as to whether to take action against UW.