Jan 12, 2015 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
A growing number of media stories claim medical lab companies that develop genetic screening assays oversell the accuracy of such tests and fail to educate parents and doctors about the risks of false positives and false negatives
In response to growing concerns by consumers about the accuracy of some proprietary genetic screening assays, several media outlets have begun reporting on this sector of the clinical laboratory industry.
What gives these news stories emotional punch is the fact that patients use these proprietary medical laboratory tests to make decisions that can be life-changing. In its story about these tests, the Boston Sunday Globe used the headline “Oversold prenatal tests spur some to choose abortions.” (more…)
Nov 12, 2014 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Management & Operations
Prenatal genome sequencing raises ethical issues for gene sequencing labs and clinical labs, since a baby’s genetic information may present lifelong consequences for that individual
Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers will be interested to learn that another milestone in genetic testing was reached earlier this year. A geneticist at the University of California at Davis, has sequenced the whole human genome of his unborn baby, the first time this feat has been accomplished.
Notably, it was geneticist and graduate student Razib Khan of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who sequenced his unborn son’s genome during the third trimester of pregnancy using a sample of the fetus’ placenta. This is the first healthy person born in the United States with his entire genetic makeup deciphered prior to birth, noted a recent story published by the MIT Technology Review. (more…)
