Blood Samples of AIDS Patients Stolen

A cooler containing blood samples from patients who had tested positive for the AIDS virus was stolen from the entryway of a Van Nuys testing firm where it had been left outside for a laboratory courier to pick up, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Police said the door at ICS Home Health Services in the 14900 block of Oxnard Street had been equipped with a lock, but was unlocked on Friday evening. “The latch was not used,” Detective Mel Arnold said. “The cooler was loose.”

The cooler held six glass vials of blood taken from patients diagnosed as having the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Lt. Fred Nixon said. The vials were to undergo additional analysis at a laboratory.

The cooler carried no warnings about its contents and was discovered stolen on Monday when ICS officials learned from the laboratory courier that the cooler was missing, police said.

Investigators believe someone who wanted the cooler probably took it and dumped the four-inch long vials of blood. “Obviously there is some concern for where it was dumped,” Arnold said. “We haven’t found it.”