DrewWilson
January 8th, 2009, 10:45 AM
The largest medical lab company in the U.S. says it recently discovered and fixed a problem that led to inaccuracies in a small number of tests for vitamin D deficiency.
Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., notified thousands of doctors in the fall who had ordered tests for their patients that it had found the problem and then offered free tests for patients whose results were deemed questionable, said Gary Samuels, the company's vice-president for communications.
Blood tests to check levels of vitamin D are on the rise because of research showing a possible link between too little of the "sunshine vitamin" and a higher risk of cancer or heart disease.
People normally get vitamin D from exposure to the sun or from fortified milk, orange juice and cereals. It helps build strong bones. But recent research, which still is being debated, suggests it also may play a broader role in protecting against a number of diseases.
"Last year, we did have an issue in a few of our labs that affected a small minority of tests in those labs," Samuels said in an interview this week. "We identified the problem ourselves. We corrected the problem. We notified doctors and other customers and offered free retesting."
More... (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/01/08/vitamin-d-lab.html)
A major player in the health industry screwing up? That's impossible (http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/948585/nl_supreme_court_certifies_lawsuit_over_breast_can cer_test_errors/index.html)!
Quest Diagnostics of Madison, N.J., notified thousands of doctors in the fall who had ordered tests for their patients that it had found the problem and then offered free tests for patients whose results were deemed questionable, said Gary Samuels, the company's vice-president for communications.
Blood tests to check levels of vitamin D are on the rise because of research showing a possible link between too little of the "sunshine vitamin" and a higher risk of cancer or heart disease.
People normally get vitamin D from exposure to the sun or from fortified milk, orange juice and cereals. It helps build strong bones. But recent research, which still is being debated, suggests it also may play a broader role in protecting against a number of diseases.
"Last year, we did have an issue in a few of our labs that affected a small minority of tests in those labs," Samuels said in an interview this week. "We identified the problem ourselves. We corrected the problem. We notified doctors and other customers and offered free retesting."
More... (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/01/08/vitamin-d-lab.html)
A major player in the health industry screwing up? That's impossible (http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/948585/nl_supreme_court_certifies_lawsuit_over_breast_can cer_test_errors/index.html)!