Company says coronavirus tests can produce false negatives
Transcript
The maker of a rapid coronavirus test widely used across the United States and distributed by the federal government has warned its device can produce false negatives.
Abbott Laboratories has warned its test could produce false negatives if healthcare providers use a special method known as “virtual transport media” to move or store patients’ samples.
The company’s “ID NOW” machine only processes one test at a time, which may explain why labs might transport the test samples to store until they can be processed.
Last week the company instructed healthcare providers that they should only place swabs with patient samples directly into its ID NOW testing machine.
The company said when this method is used the test performs as “expected.”
The tests had been used for about two weeks before the problem was uncovered.
Healthcare providers at the Cleveland Clinic were the ones who discovered the Abbott system was producing false negatives.
They say the system produced higher false negatives than any other device they tested.
They tested more than 200 samples of COVID-19 using five testing systems.
And found that ID NOW only detected the virus in 85-percent of the samples.
Experts say that is to be expected with new tests are rolled out quickly in an emergency situation.
They warn other problems could arise in the future.
Posted – 4.22.20