Company Taps Into Public’s Angst To Push Questionable Genetic Testing
A Stat investigation looks at a California company that claims it can offer a DNA test to determine how a patient would react to pain medication.
Stat:
Genetic Lab Pays Doctors To Push Dubious Tests, Employees Say
A STAT investigation found that Proove employees stationed in physicians’ offices pushed unnecessary tests on patients — a practice called “coercion” by one former manager — and they sometimes completed research evaluation forms on behalf of doctors, rating the tests as highly effective when they weren’t. In fact, Proove tests of DNA captured by swabbing inside a patient’s cheek were so unreliable that many physicians disregarded the results. There was scant evidence, said the company’s former chief scientist, that the tests improved patient outcomes. (Piller, 2/28)