Medicine cabinet becomes laboratory
At-home tests can detect everything from cholesterol to cancer and, now, the AIDS virus
By Elaine Gross
cGannett Suburban Newspapers
They're quick and convenient. Most of all, they're private.
Do-it-yourself medical tests have taken their place alongside aspirin, bandages and thermometers in
medicine chests.
Last week, Home Access Health Corp. became the second company to have a HIV test approved
by the Food and Drug Administration. The test, which has users take a blood sample at home and
send it to a laboratory for results, is now available nationwide via mail order. It will be in retail stores
in September.
Johnson & Johnson's Confide HIV Testing Service became available in Texas and Florida in June
and is expected in stores nationwide in early 1997.
Other at-home tests allow consumers to:
--Monitor cholesterol.
--Check blood pressure.
--Monitor glucose levels.
--Test for possible bowel troubles, including colorectal cancer.
--Predict ovulation.
--Detect warning signs of several urinary-tract ailments.
--And, of course, test for pregnancy.
Zackary S. Irani, vice president of business development for Biomerica, which makes the EZ Detect
tests for blood in stool and urine and the FORTEL pregnancy test, says market growth has been
spurred by aging baby boomers.
"The people in this group spend more on health care than their younger counterparts," he says.
Doctors' reservations
Local doctors say they find home tests useful, but they have a few reservations. Dr. Hector Estepan,
a New Rochelle resident with an internal medicine practice in the Bronx, is wary of tests in which the
consumer determines the results.
"I don't mind having a test when the results are sent in to a central station," he says.
Estepan questions if consumers can handle getting test results without a professional around to calm
fears.
"If someone suspects that they have colon cancer and they have a positive test, it can get all out of
hand. Having blood in the stool doesn't mean that you have cancer."
He also doubts the average person's ability to follow instructions to the letter: "If you follow the
directions they give you, it's no problem, but most people don't."
For the most part, Dr. Stephen Warshafsky, chief of general internal medicine research at
Westchester County Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at New York Medical
College, both in Valhalla, favors tests such as the one that allows users to check their cholesterol
levels.
On the other hand, he cautions against relying solely on home testing.
"This could be very dangerous for people with high cholesterol who decide they are going to treat
themselves," he says. "Basically, they should use (home tests) as part of a comprehensive program
with their physician."
Still, Warshafsky says that when used properly home tests may have great benefits. He cites the
success of tests that monitor glucose as an example.
"Diabetics who check their sugar daily do better than diabetics who do not check their sugar daily,"
he says. "So it's possible that people who monitor their cholesterol will, in the long term, have less
heart disease. We'll have to see in the future if that's going to pan out."
Cost is a factor
Customer feedback has been good, says pharmacist Bernie Novick, a partner in Proctor Pharmacy
of Mount Vernon. Pregnancy tests and strips for blood glucose monitors are big sellers in his store.
He hasn't seen much of a demand for other tests.
"The trend is when they first come out, most tests are very popular," adds pharmacist Joe Fiscella,
who owns Finch's Drug in Rye Brook.
But price is a determining factor of continued success.
"It depends on what the test is," Fiscella says. "A lot of people aren't going to spend $50 to find out
what their cholesterol is. They'll just go to the doctor and pay $50. If it's a $12 test, they may take it
out of curiosity."
Eli Novick, who is Bernie's brother and also a partner and pharmacist at Proctor, agrees. That's one
reason the drugstore doesn't bother stocking some of the newer tests. He will decide if he'll order the
HIV test for his store when he sees prices on it.
In any case, pharmaceutical companies plan on rolling out even more tests.
Biomerica has plans for tests that can indicate prostate cancer and ulcers. Home Access Health
Corp. hopes to introduce a saliva HIV test.
Dr. John H. Renner, founder of the Consumer Health Information Research Institute, a
patient-education group in Independence, Mo., also expects the market to keep growing. And as
long as consumers are informed, he thinks the tests are a good thing.
"I'm a great believer in patients taking responsibility for their own care," he says, "but they've got to
do that based on accurate information, not sales pitch." |
