Theranos Jump-starts Consumer Lab Testing

[seeyeff]

Here's the article:

http://fortune.com/2015/05/07/theranos- ... b-testing/

"Last month Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law a bill that gives consumers there the most robust and explicit rights in the country to order any lab tests they want, without having to go through a doctor. Ducey signed the bill at the Scottsdale laboratory of Theranos, the blood analytics company, with company founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes standing a few steps behind him."

For now, they're only in Arizona and Palo Alto, CA.

But check out their "Test Menu" if you want to be jealous/sad.

Example Prices (PrivateMDLabs price in parenthesis):

$11.55  TSH       ($47.99)
$11.65  Free T3   ($52.49)
$6.20   Free T4   ($51.49)

Hopefully this will spread nationwide and worldwide. I don't know about you guys, but I think this is the future. Speaking of the future:

"The most distinctive aspect of Theranos’s tests is that the vast majority of them are performed on a just a few drops of blood, drawn nearly painlessly from a pricked finger. "

The miniaturization has begun. Maybe this is the next step towards having a home testing kit, so that you can do most blood tests like diabetics can with blood glucose. Next up, nanobots embedded in our bodies that can give you hourly blood test readings!

"Holmes’s objectives in this instance also happened to dovetail with broader currents of thought in contemporary society, including what has been called the 'Quantified Self' movement."

Combine the blood data with wrist device that measures heart rate, temperature, sleep, and activity levels and we'll have all the data we need to be our own doctors. Then we'll just need to end drug prohibition and allow direct consumer purchase of formerly prescription-only drugs.

This should be the future, in my opinion, and there is a glimmer of hope that it could be.

ADDENDUM:

The video embedded in that article is pretty cool — shows the finger prick technique and the "nanotainers" of blood.

Also the CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, did a TEDMED talk.

 

[Such_Saturation]

 

[Blossom]

I like the idea of lower prices for labs. I have mixed feelings on the 'quantified self' movement just because I'm a bit afraid of the overzealous collection of information getting into the wrong hands, being misinterpreted and over treatment being applied for risk factors rather than disease. I also hope we can retain the freedom to not be required to participate in the 'quantified self' movement if we don't want to.

Personally I opted to pay a fine and a higher insurance premium to not take part in my employers 'quantified self' program. I certainly know they would push their diet and lifestyle prescriptions on me due to my cholesterol numbers alone!

I don't have a problem using this type of data on myself for myself and by myself but I do have a problem with my government and/or employer using it to try to tell me how to eat and live.

It will be interesting to see how this all develops!

 

[ravster02]

I like the idea of lower prices for labs. I have mixed feelings on the 'quantified self' movement just because I'm a bit afraid of the overzealous collection of information getting into the wrong hands, being misinterpreted and over treatment being applied for risk factors rather than disease. I also hope we can retain the freedom to not be required to participate in the 'quantified self' movement if we don't want to.

Personally I opted to pay a fine and a higher insurance premium to not take part in my employers 'quantified self' program. I certainly know they would push their diet and lifestyle prescriptions on me due to my cholesterol numbers alone!

I don't have a problem using this type of data on myself for myself and by myself but I do have a problem with my government and/or employer using it to try to tell me how to eat and live.

It will be interesting to see how this all develops!

Ok.

Anyway, for those of you in the US saying it's too expensive to have tests done, well here's the perfect option. No more excuses for not having tests done often.

 

[Blossom]

Oh yes! I'm very excited about lower lab prices. Since our current system seems to be collapsing this will hopefully help many people.

 

[Dean]

Ok.

Anyway, for those of you in the US saying it's too expensive to have tests done, well here's the perfect option. No more excuses for not having tests done often.

Not sure if you've heard, but the US is a pretty big country. Arizona and California are not exactly a hop, skip, and jump away from quite a few US citizens.

Also, it looks like you still need to get a doctor to prescribe the tests.

Sorry to rain on your judgment parade.

 

[ravster02]

There'll always be excuses for some people.

 

[Dean]

Just like there will always be people who won't let things like facts (or reality) get in the way of a good argument.

 

[Blossom]

There is certainly no argument from me. I'm all in favor of people being able to manage their own health affordably.

Each and every one of us has to decide for ourselves how far we want to delve into the 'quantified self' movement.

When it becomes compulsory that's when I start having a problem with it personally. It also reeks a bit of medicalizing our lives even more. I imagine there will probably be both good and bad aspects of the 'quantified self' movement as it begins to gain more popularity.

Having participated in an employer based program a few years back I noticed an underlying message that no one was quite good enough as is and everyone should be trying to improve themselves in ways that the medical system generically deems appropriate/acceptable.

 

[BingDing]

Any Lab Test Now does lots of tests and the doctor there orders them. Not as cheap as those prices but better than nothing.

 

[CrystalClear]

So was she destroyed by the establishment or was she really a fraud do you think? (Didn't know about Elizabeth Holmes until today).

 

[Soren]

So was she destroyed by the establishment or was she really a fraud do you think? (Didn't know about Elizabeth Holmes until today).

She is definitely a fraud in my opinion. There is a pretty good documentary on HBO about the whole Theranos saga. Also there are plenty of free documentaries on youtube. Total fraud and unfortunately has probably set the industry back because the response is likely to be more strict regulations.

 

[CrystalClear]

@Soren