Abbott Defends the Accuracy of Its Rapid COVID-19 Test

This micro-podcast episode gives you the details you need most on this developing story. Scroll down to read the full story.   What's going on? Several independent research teams have called into question the accuracy of Abbott's ID NOW COVID-19 test, a rapid point-of-care molecular diagnostic test designed to produce results in five minutes. FDA granted Abbott an emergency use authorization of the test in late March. The accuracy of the test was first questioned by researchers at NYU Langone Health. The NYU researchers conducted a study involving 101 patients receiving emergency COVID-19 care through the system's Tisch Hospital. The study, which was pre-published on bioRxiv and has not been peer reviewed, suggested that Abbott's test produced false negative results for almost half of the positive samples. Conducted by researchers at NYU Langone Health, involving 101 patients receiving emergency COVID-19 care through the system’s Tisch Hospital, the study was pre-published on bioRxiv, but it has not been peer-reviewed and the journal cautions that the study should not be regarded as conclusive or be reported in news media as established information. So is the test unreliable, or the study results? It's more complicated than that. See, each patient in the NYU study had samples collected twice at the same time, but not at the point of care like the test was designed for. Instead, the researchers transported the ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: COVID-19 IVD Source Type: news