Sunday, June 22, 2008

200+ GET FALSE HIV RESULTS


About 200 people in NYC got ’false positive’ HIV test results.

I cant imagine hearing those words. But with the continual spread of HIV throughout every community, many people do. As you would expect, It’s devastating.


Many of those afflicted, need a tremendous amount of family and community support to survive what is now a survivable disease. But what about a false positive?

As reported in the AP, over 200 people in the NYC area were given false HIV test results from clinics between November 2007 and April of this year and were incorrectly told they tested positive for the virus as a result of using OraSure.

Try to wrap your mind around this.

The New York Post in Sunday’s edition stated that 213 people who took a rapid mouth-swab HIV test initially were told they had the virus. City health officials, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and OraSure Technologies, the maker of the test, are investigating. A second test from a blood sample revealed they were not HIV-positive.

The New York Post also states that the City’s Health Department has stopped using the OraSure rapid swab test. (so much for that stock investment)


All fine and well, but what about the clients who suffered the false test results? Will they sue? This is anything but simple. If this had happened and someone did something unthinkable as a result, what would you expect to happen?


Just another example of poor testing of products by our government institutions. Do the right thing, go to your regular doctor and get a proper HIV test done with your regular annual check-up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Many of us do, it is a part of a routine since I had sergery a few years ago.

What must go through a persons' mind at that point would be similar to any cancer victim. The prospect that we are not immortal and vulnerable to many life threatening circumstances is a tough reality.

My visit was nominal and Ill be fine, but who would guess that pecautions in testing kits would be ignored?