Interim DPH head named in drug lab fallout

Health officials announced the interim Department of Health head more than one month after the previous head resigned.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby announced Dr. Lauren Smith as interim Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday.

Dr. Smith has been the DPH's medical director since 2007. She holds an MD from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

In September, John Auerbach resigned from the post in the wake of a growing investigation into a chemist whose alleged mishandling of drug samples led police to shut down the state crime lab and re-examine tens of thousands of drug cases.

To read more about Auerbach's resignation, click here.

Cox Media Group