LabCorp 2013 Annual Report Download - page 27

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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, 2013 and
2012, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each
of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2013 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, 2013, based on criteria established in Internal
Control–Integrated Framework 1992 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. 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
Charlotte, North Carolina
February 25, 2014
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
Report of Independent Registered
Public Accounting Firm