I wasn't sure where to post this.....this article from the NY Times discusses new diagnostic tests called "Genomics." In case the link disappears, here's a brief summary:
A Crystal Ball Submerged in a Test Tube
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: April 13, 2006
When her hairdresser asked her last fall whether she would continue wearing her hair long, Elizabeth Sloan broke down crying. Unbeknown to the hairstylist, Ms. Sloan had recently had a breast tumor removed and was expecting to begin chemotherapy, which would probably mean losing her hair.
The test taken by Ms. Sloan, known as Oncotype DX and offered by a company called Genomic Health, is part of a new wave of sophisticated genetic or protein tests that are starting to remake the diagnostics business, both for the technology they use and the way they are developed and sold.
The company's test could receive new attention as a result of a major medical journal study, published yesterday, which found that women with a certain kind of breast tumor might not benefit from chemotherapy. Genomic Health's test could potentially be used for further screening by such women and their doctors.
............Genomic Health, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., is not the first company to offer a high-priced genetic test as a laboratory service. Myriad Genetics of Salt Lake City has been offering a patent-protected test for the risk of developing breast cancer since the late 1990's. It charges $3,000 for the most thorough version.
A Crystal Ball Submerged Inside A Test Tube The article goes on to say that these tests will drive up health care and insurance costs, and that most insurance will not cover them anyway.
As someone with no health insurance and experience with HMO's that refuse to pay for necessary tests and treatment, this makes me furious. I feel that if health care costs came down so that we could pay for them like groceries and gas, we could do away with health insurance and we'd all be a lot healthier.
But of course that will never happen because pharmaceutical companies and doctors are not going to give up six figure incomes. Their revenue is more important than our health.