The nation’s largest medical laboratory company provided possibly erroneous results to thousands of people who had their vitamin D levels tested in the last two years, the company has acknowledged. The company, Quest Diagnostics, has already sent letters to thousands of doctors listing the patients who might have received “questionable” test results and is offering free retests. The company said it had fixed the problems. An erroneously high result may mean patients will not take vitamin D supplements when perhaps they should, doctors said. And an erroneously low test result might lead in rare instances to a toxic overdose of vitamin D. When the Quest tests have been inaccurate, the reading has typically been too high, although not in all cases. Quest’s action represents “the largest patient test recall I’m aware of in my 20 years in the business,” said Robert L. Michel, editor of The Dark Report, a newsletter for pathologists that first reported on Quest’s action.
Bonnie - do not wait for your doctor to contact you. I would suggest that if you had a vitamin D test done within the last two years, contact your doctor to make sure that you're not on the list of those who may have a skewed result. Another option would be to ask your doctor, or Quest directly, for a retest.
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