Theranos laboratory services still paused in Hampden Township

Listen to this article

California-based Theranos, the lab company operating at the Capital BlueCross store, is under scrutiny from multiple sources over the accuracy of its results.

This month a study was released showing that Theranos’ cholesterol tests differed from that of other laboratory companies, and in January the government found clinical deficiencies at one of Theranos’ labs.

Capital BlueCross continues to monitor Theranos’ efforts to address the concerns that have been raised, particularly those raised by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kirsten Page, spokeswoman for Capital BlueCross said.

“We are looking for them to successfully work through those challenges before we do anything further,” Page said. “We always strive to make available to our members the best value in quality health care services.  To the extent that Theranos can work through the questions that have been raised and meet that standard, we will continue to include them in our network.”

In the study released in March, Theranos drew results that differed by 9.3 percent from those produced by the two largest laboratory companies in the U.S.

Researchers at New York-based Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai conducted the study, and they concluded that the difference was great enough to change doctors’ medical decisions.

In the recent Journal of Clinical Investigation study, 60 healthy adults were sent for 22 commonly prescribed blood tests over a five-day period at Theranos, New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. and North Carolina-based Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings.

In response, Theranos raised several concerns over the study’s methods and conclusions.

There was a conflict of interest between one of the authors and Theranos, the study didn’t report how many fingers were pricked at each testing site, and the study only outlined the differences but not the similarities in the laboratory results, Theranos said.

Prior to the release of this recent study, Capital BlueCross and Theranos agreed to pause the lab services in Hampden Township in response to government findings of clinical deficiencies at one of Theranos’ labs.  

In a letter dated Jan. 25, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cited Theranos for five deficiencies at a laboratory in Newark, Calif., some of which “pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety,” according to reports by the Associated Press.

Capital BlueCross has no plans to accommodate another lab services provider in its store at this time, Page said.