about Marvin Numeroff
to correct the NYT record Aug 27. 1988
This purpose of this page is to correct a public record, in Particular a NYTimes article dated 8/27/1988
if you search on my dad, Marvin Numeroff, you will find this:
Saturday, August 27th, 1988
Article starts: “The head of a diagnostic laboratory in Brooklyn was arrested yesterday and charged with illegally disposing of medical waste, including two blood vials containing the Hepatitis B virus....”
Since he was not around much in the news during the last decades and never learned to use computers in a social way, even now years later... a link to this article will be near the top of the page.
Was a hot summer frenzy.... and Marvin Numeroff was falsely accused of putting hazardous medical waste in “regular” garbage to avoid the costs of proper disposal.
This waste was suspected of being the same that was showing up on beaches around NY and NJ... leading to closed beaches, fear, etc... the FRENZY.
Here’s the real deal...
Was a very hot summer for everyone and local elections were coming up...
At the time Marvin owned, and operated for many years a highly respected medium sized Medical Lab he founded and dedicated himself to building, called Universal Diagnostic Laboratories, Inc. (UDL). He was a generous and sympathetic employer, father of three kids, and had the good old fashioned values of wanting to help people and do the right thing. Worked 12-14 hours a day and was never sick. Was always available to his patients and doctor friends trying to help their patients.
In the heat of this hot summer frenzy, someone living across from the lab made an anonymous suggestion that they should check UDL’s garbage...
Turns out that ABC or NBC or CBS... made a deal with the Police Dept. to be with them while finding the horrible culprit who was “poisoning the beaches...”
So after TWO WHOLE WEEK NIGHTS of undercover collecting and going through all of UDLs regular garbage while network camera crews filmed and filmed and filmed... they found 20 unused sterile test tubes and 2 needles that had traces of hepatitis.
For this they arranged a highly publicized and filmed early morning ARREST SCENE for the MEDIA (I still have the footage) of Marvin being handcuffed and taken to City Jail. Was a news headline and a TV news big story. They denied him a hearing that day, a Friday, so he spent 2 nights in JAIL. This was a very good guy. Started poor and respected the system and it worked for him. WORK HARD, BE REWARDED. He believed in that.
TO PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE:
Marvin’s lab had thousands and thousands of samples going through it’s system every DAY... It had long term contracts with Licensed Hazardous Waste disposal companies for many years.
Marvin Numeroff was a leader in the Medical Laboratory field fighting for high safety standards and responsible waste disposal. He has a long record of being an advocate for his patients and Lab Workers.
They shouldn’t have been in the regular garbage. Some employee got lazy. A tiny and also inexcusable item. BUT NOT CRIMINAL or NEGLIGENT of UDL or Marvin.
If UDL had not had a Licensed Hazardous Waste disposal company there would have been mountains of waste everyday.
Unfortunately there is not a very public forum to insert this information. Want this page to be linked from the NYT article that pops up on searches for Marvin but informed it is not an option so I made this page.
This is an attempt to correct the published record. To set the record straight.
Marvin spent a few years fighting the charges and paying lawyers and showing up to court to find the prosecutor would never show up... an apparent delaying tactic but the city due to the complication that the evidence did not indicate any negligence… but it didn’t matter... to end the harassment and after much exhaustion Marvin accepted a misdemeanor charge for the few items that ended up in the trash. This put an end to the harassment but a deep scar was left.
In this case: A victim of a hot summer with a frightened public and ambitious local politicians.
if you search on my dad, Marvin Numeroff, you will find this:
Saturday, August 27th, 1988
Article starts: “The head of a diagnostic laboratory in Brooklyn was arrested yesterday and charged with illegally disposing of medical waste, including two blood vials containing the Hepatitis B virus....”
Since he was not around much in the news during the last decades and never learned to use computers in a social way, even now years later... a link to this article will be near the top of the page.
Was a hot summer frenzy.... and Marvin Numeroff was falsely accused of putting hazardous medical waste in “regular” garbage to avoid the costs of proper disposal.
This waste was suspected of being the same that was showing up on beaches around NY and NJ... leading to closed beaches, fear, etc... the FRENZY.
Here’s the real deal...
Was a very hot summer for everyone and local elections were coming up...
At the time Marvin owned, and operated for many years a highly respected medium sized Medical Lab he founded and dedicated himself to building, called Universal Diagnostic Laboratories, Inc. (UDL). He was a generous and sympathetic employer, father of three kids, and had the good old fashioned values of wanting to help people and do the right thing. Worked 12-14 hours a day and was never sick. Was always available to his patients and doctor friends trying to help their patients.
In the heat of this hot summer frenzy, someone living across from the lab made an anonymous suggestion that they should check UDL’s garbage...
Turns out that ABC or NBC or CBS... made a deal with the Police Dept. to be with them while finding the horrible culprit who was “poisoning the beaches...”
So after TWO WHOLE WEEK NIGHTS of undercover collecting and going through all of UDLs regular garbage while network camera crews filmed and filmed and filmed... they found 20 unused sterile test tubes and 2 needles that had traces of hepatitis.
For this they arranged a highly publicized and filmed early morning ARREST SCENE for the MEDIA (I still have the footage) of Marvin being handcuffed and taken to City Jail. Was a news headline and a TV news big story. They denied him a hearing that day, a Friday, so he spent 2 nights in JAIL. This was a very good guy. Started poor and respected the system and it worked for him. WORK HARD, BE REWARDED. He believed in that.
TO PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE:
Marvin’s lab had thousands and thousands of samples going through it’s system every DAY... It had long term contracts with Licensed Hazardous Waste disposal companies for many years.
Marvin Numeroff was a leader in the Medical Laboratory field fighting for high safety standards and responsible waste disposal. He has a long record of being an advocate for his patients and Lab Workers.
They shouldn’t have been in the regular garbage. Some employee got lazy. A tiny and also inexcusable item. BUT NOT CRIMINAL or NEGLIGENT of UDL or Marvin.
If UDL had not had a Licensed Hazardous Waste disposal company there would have been mountains of waste everyday.
Unfortunately there is not a very public forum to insert this information. Want this page to be linked from the NYT article that pops up on searches for Marvin but informed it is not an option so I made this page.
This is an attempt to correct the published record. To set the record straight.
Marvin spent a few years fighting the charges and paying lawyers and showing up to court to find the prosecutor would never show up... an apparent delaying tactic but the city due to the complication that the evidence did not indicate any negligence… but it didn’t matter... to end the harassment and after much exhaustion Marvin accepted a misdemeanor charge for the few items that ended up in the trash. This put an end to the harassment but a deep scar was left.
In this case: A victim of a hot summer with a frightened public and ambitious local politicians.