Canadian Scientists and Medical Researchers Urge Health Canada to Regulate Laboratory-developed Tests

Lack of regulations and quality management jeopardizes the quality and safety of LDTs, claim experts in clinical laboratory medicine in a commentary to Canadian policymakers Health Canada is the latest government healthcare organization under pressure to enact legislation that regulates laboratory-developed tests (LDTs). In a public commentary, several members of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto in Ontario, urged Canadian lawmakers...

British Medical Laboratory Test for Early Screening of Lung Cancer Shows Promising Interim Results in Large Trial; Could Lead to Other Simple Blood Tests for Cancer Detection

EarlyCDT-Lung test followed by X-rays and CT scans proves up to five times more likely to detect cancer than current standard of care Encouraging preliminary results from a 12,000-person clinical trial into the effectiveness of a non-invasive medical laboratory blood test for the early detection of lung cancer could signal an advance that leads to creation of similar anatomic pathology screening tests for the early detection of other cancers. Interim results of a study using the potentially...

Dental Plaque Could Lead to Clinical Laboratory Testing for Biomarkers to Identify Health Risks

Researchers have found that isolating a particular gene within the oral microbiome can reveal a huge amount of useful diagnostic information about a person’s health Most people don’t think of dental plaque when they think about clinical laboratories. For the vast majority of people, the only diseases that dental plaque bring to mind are those of the mouth: • gingivitis; • periodontitis; and, • dental caries. Samples that are sent to medical labs and pathology laboratories are more often blood...

Internationally-respected Experts in Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Ask: Why Don’t We Know More about Theranos’ Technology?

This secretive start-up medical laboratory testing company has not disclosed how its diagnostic test technology works, nor has it given laboratorians an opportunity to examine the technology Several internationally-respected clinical laboratory experts are asking serious questions about Theranos and its diagnostic testing technology, and they’ve gotten few answers to date. Though the number of experts is small, their credentials in the clinical laboratory profession are impressive. In...

Canada’s Clinical Pathology Laboratory Leaders to Discuss Trends of Lab Consolidation, Care Integration, and Genetic Testing during a Time of Shrinking Lab Budgets

Across the nation, resources to support medical laboratory testing are dwindling even as physicians order more tests and labs must spend to acquire new diagnostic technologies Canada’s clinical laboratory testing marketplace has just undergone another wave of consolidation among independent medical laboratory companies that has eliminated major lab test providers in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. But that’s just one trend in a nation where successive budget-cutting initiatives...
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