A test designed to catch bits of cancer DNA in the blood of otherwise healthy people was launched recently by Pathway Genomics. The test is a first in “liquid biopsies,” blood sample tests that use gene sequencing technology to detect trace amounts of DNA mutations associated with various cancers.
Since the death of noted entertainer Joan Rivers almost a year ago, the routine use of endoscopes has come under increased scrutiny. Now, evidence has surfaced that contaminated endoscopes are behind many hospital outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs,’ and the FDA has known about it for years and done nothing. Some of these outbreaks have killed dozens and made hundreds of others ill. (1)
A report published in the journal Genome Research details a new test developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that can detect virtually any virus.
The new test, ViroCap, purportedly works so well that you don’t even need a doctor’s examination to get the correct diagnosis.
The symptoms of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer are very similar, often leading to a misdiagnosis – a frightening prospect, considering only 3% of people with pancreatic cancer survive 3 years after being diagnosed. Now, it is being reported that a simple urine test could make it easier to catch the deadly disease more quickly.
Has your doctor recommended blood work for you? As a recently surfaced Big Pharma punishment shows, it might be totally unnecessary and part of a larger fraud case. Two companies, Richmond, VA-based Health Diagnostics Laboratory Inc (HDL) will pay $47 million to settle a fraud dispute, and Alameda, CA-based Singulex Inc. will pay $1.5 million in fines along with them.
