Unreliable private online hormone tests sold for months despite accuracy concerns

A large private laboratory processed finger prick tests for oestrogen levels, which are sold by private retailers online, for many months despite warnings they were unreliable, The BMJ can reveal.Eurofins County Pathology, a large laboratory based in Guildford, in the UK, continued carrying out finger prick tests for oestradiol, commonly included in online blood tests for hormones, fertility, and menopause, until at least July 2023 despite problems being identified in November 2021 and two other laboratories and one online retailer withdrawing the tests over concerns the results may not always be accurate.Eurofins’ own internal study, launched in 2021, found finger prick (also known as capillary) blood samples were more likely to record lower oestradiol levels than venous samples. But it carried on processing the tests on behalf of online retailers after telling them about the discrepancy in October 2022. In August 2023, the company told The BMJ it had stopped…
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