LabCorp 2012 Annual Report Download - page 25

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To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings:
In our opinion, the consolidated balance sheets and related
consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive
earnings, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows
present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position
of Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings and its
subsidiaries at December 31, 2012 and 2011, and the results
of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three
years in the period ended December 31, 2012 in conformity
with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company
maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control
over financial reporting as of December 31, 2012, based on
criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s management
is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining
effective internal control over financial reporting and for its
assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting, included in the Report of Management
on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under
Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these
financial statements and on the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting based on our integrated audits. We
conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement and whether
effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained
in all material respects. Our audits of the financial statements
included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting
the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements,
assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation.
Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included
obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial
reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness
exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk.
Our audits also included performing such other procedures
as we considered necessary in the circumstances.
We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinions.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a
process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding
the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of
financial statements for external purposes in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s
internal control over financial reporting includes those policies
and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records
that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the
transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company;
(ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded
as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements
in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,
and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being
made only in accordance with authorizations of management and
directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance
regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that
could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over
financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.
Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future
periods are subject to the risk that controls may become
inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the
degree of compliance with the policies or procedures
may deteriorate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Greensboro, North Carolina
February 26, 2013
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
Report of Independent Registered
Public Accounting Firm