Laboratory Accuracy - Quest vs Prometheus

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Poster: richabec <richabec@ALLTEL.NET>
Subject: FW: S/ laboratory accuracy
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My original post:

Normally, when we have our antibodies checked I have the test drawn at a
Quest Lab and then mailed to Prometheus. I have been convinced by the
celiac community that Prometheus is the way to go.

This week when I took my son for his yearly check, Quest refused to mail it
off. They said they have a new machine that does the Celiac tests and they
will no longer mail them out. I left and went to a different lab that will
still mail it out after drawing blood for the test.

My question is: Does anyone have any information about whether or not this
new machine means that Quest is becoming more reliable in doing the celiac
panel?

My doctor really doesn't have info that I trust on this issue. He agrees
to the Prometheus lab just to pacify me. He seems to think that Quest is
cheaper, but they actually aren't cheaper for me. Even though insurance
pays less since they are out of network my net cost is less. However, I was
a bit alarmed that it was harder to find a cooperative lab this time. As
more docs request this test I assume more labs will run it and I just don't
know whether to trust them or not.

Any opinions out there? Becky

I have included the responses below. I received one positive post about
Quest, two that recommended other labs, several with bad experiences with
Quest.
Most were supportive of Prometheus. For those that may not know, they can
be contacted at www.prometheuslabs.com <http://www.prometheuslabs.com/> .
They are very pleasant to work with. You can call or email and they will
send out free test kits. You must get a doctor's signature and have a lab
draw the blood and send it to Prometheus. They can also suggest labs that
will cooperate on drawing the blood. I have been very pleased with them. I
was just curiously hoping that others might also be getting on board with
quality testing. At this point - I am sticking with Prometheus!

Thanks for all of your replies. I appreciate the input! Becky
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I have had three doctors separately tell me recently that Prometheus is the
most reliable lab. So I think I would still go with that opinion. What my
husband did to get his blood sent to Prometheus is to call Prometheus to
have the kit sent to him and then he took the kit to his regular doctor who
drew the blood and sent it off. Maybe you can go that route in the future.
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Good questions! Quest is one of the major labs in our town too, and I
always encourage our members to persuade their doctors to use Prometheus,
IMMCO or Mayo Clinic because of my own previous personal experience with
Quest. It is interesting to hear about their new "machine". I wonder if
this is something that Quest has added to some of their labs, or if it is a
new national machine, and their samples are all forwarded to it.

It will be interesting to find out how this turns out. It would be
wonderful if Quest does have an accurate system, as most new celiacs are not
aware of all the problems that have come up with Quest in the past.
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Our family doc has access to two labs, one being Quest. He, and several
other doctors have told me that Quest is a high speed not very good quality
operation but they are stuck with it because of HMO contracts.
When we had my Dad tested, he went to the hospital drawing site and they did
it. I forget if he paid the hospital or medicare did for the drawing fee.

When our daughter was acutely ill, the covering doc who was on then because
our family doc was away ordered a bunch of blood work, urine and stool
cultures, and Quest fouled up three of 6 or 7 tests. Another one the tech
at the drawing site used the wrong container so it had the wrong chemical.

Sad to say, we pay all this money and we still have to keep an eye on the
'experts'. If things are not done the way I know they should be I just
insist until they do. It's my kid's life and we are the ones that care
after all.
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My experience with Quest Labs and that of my family members as well as some
of our friends, has been very negative. They *lose* things, don't use
sophisticated analysis and are generally terrible.......if you can use an
advanced lab like Great Smokies or Metametrix, that is the way to go. I
never trust any results that I get from labs such as Quest........(I'm
unfamiliar with Prometheus, it may be top-notch, just no past experience
with that particular lab.....)
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I don't have answers regarding lab accuracy, but wanted to let you know that
our family doctor's lab is also no longer cooperative about sending things
to labs I select; they will, however, still draw the blood, and allow me to
make all the shipping arrangements. I've not looked into anything in a long
while, but I'm pretty sure that Prometheus will work with you on that,
providing appropriate mailing instructions/materials. Also, be forewarned:
when I learned that my husband's doctor at the cancer center (for his
anemia, he does not have cancer) was already using Prometheus for other
tests, I arranged for them to do the CD testing, rather than mess with the
draw and me doing the mailing and the insurance filing at the other doctor.
Imagine my shock and dismay when I learned after the fact that although the
testing would have been properly covered through a gastroenterologist, it
needed pre-approval which was not taken care of through this other doctor
not familiar with it, and, hence we were stuck with the full bill, which was
around $700 (that was the full panel, complete with gene test, which he does
have).
Still, given the woeful false-negative rate, I wonder if any annual check-up
is really worthwhile anyway? (have you seen the posts regarding false
negatives? I can forward that if you are interested).
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It seems to me that if your doc writes the order for a specific lab, the
place drawing the blood needs to comply? It would need to be specified on
the lab requisition form.

I had a similar situation going on w/food allergy testing ... the local
hosp. lab did the draw & noted that they could do the test, but they were
also happy to send it out to the lab specified by the doc.

I'm guessing that if Quest has invested in new equipment to handle an
increase in testing as a result of the NIH position paper, they're gonna
fight for market share.
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.
I do know that Kaiser Permanente uses Quest. I would imagine they feel
secure that the Quest results are accurate.

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The only accurate way to determine if you have celiac disease aka gluten
sensitivity is to be tested by the lab at http://www.enterolab.com
<http://www.enterolab.com/>

The blood tests are only about 50 % accurate at best.

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