Al Soeldner's article in the November issue of this publication entitled “Staying Alive” contains a lot of good, solid advice that all of us who operate service laboratories should take to heart. Whether our laboratories are public or private, his advice on sticking to what we know how to do, understanding how to put the client first in the “service” environment and establish a “user friendly” climate is sound and should be clearly heard by all.

There is, however, one point on which I do not agree with Al, and that is the scope of work which is appropriate for various laboratories. While he does discuss the possible problem of “agency policy” which may conflict with offering services to a broader user base, he might not emphasis that the problem created by the agency policy (if it exists) is probably based on a solid understanding of the legal climate in which we all operate.