NEWS - Quest Diagnostics says some vitamin D test results wrong

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Quest says some vitamin D tests gave wrong result

Thu Jan 8, 2009 12:09pm EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - Quest Diagnostics Inc said on Thursday that it had

provided possibly erroneous results to thousands of people who had

their vitamin D levels tested over the past two years.

Quest, the largest U.S. provider of diagnostic testing, said it sent

letters to doctors who might have received " questionable " test

results.

Dr. Wael Salameh, Quest's medical director for endocrinology, said in

an interview that the company had identified the cause of the

potential errors and fixed them. He said Quest had implemented a

retesting program for patients whose results were questionable.

Salameh said the questionable results emerged in roughly 10 percent of

the tests. However, he said he expects the number of actual errors to

be lower after retesting, based on the company's internal analysis.

He said one problem was associated with a chemical used in the test,

the other was improper follow-up according to standard operating

procedure in some laboratories.

Salameh declined to say how many vitamin D tests had been conducted

for competitive reasons, but a company spokeswoman said the impact of

the retesting would not be material to its earnings.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5075LJ20090108

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