Social media promoting medical testing has medical experts raising alarm
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What home medical tests are people buying and why are they popular?
The global home medical testing sector is booming thanks to promotion on social media, but it is raising alarms with medical experts. And for more, we turn now to the KCBS Ring Central newsline to speak with Bloomberg's Ashley Furlong. Ashley, what kind of medical conditions are people self-diagnosing with these tests?
So we've seen quite a variety of um uh testing being done. So what we were looking at was uh a lot of SDI testing, so for maybe uh syphilis, for gonorrhea, those kinds of conditions that you might be quite um maybe embarrassed about going to your doctor about. But we also saw testing for um, you know, uh cancers, for example, HPV tests, and then there's also uh, you know, prostate coun prostate cancer tests or PSA tests. It's we've sort of seen post COVID this um massive surge in people wanting to sort of take control of their own health. um and you know the ability to sort of easily order quite affordable test online and get it sent to their home um has really sort of led to the surge in these Um i in these companies who are selling all kinds of you know, any kind of condition that you might be concerned about, it seems like you can get a test online for.
So why are medical experts concerned?
So what we found in our investigation was that some of these tests are being sold uh for home testing only.
Why are medical experts warning that many of these tests aren’t approved for home use?
Um but they actually are only approved for m um medical professionals to carry out the test. So that should be a nurse or doctor. Um and the test don't sort of meet the quality requirements that you would if you were approved for home testing. So with home testing you should have like really clear graphics, for example, on how to carry out the test. You know, you might be taking a blood sample. Um you'll have also really clear um sort of signposts to where you should be going after you get a result. So if it's a positive HIV test, for example, then you it'll be very clear on what you should do. Whereas, you know, if it's a test that's actually meant for a doctor, it's not going to tell the doctor what they should be doing.
So we sort of see companies advertising these tests for home testing when they really are not actually approved for
that.
How can consumers tell if a home‑testing kit is safe and properly certified?
So what should consumers look for when they're buying these home tests? So that's that's actually
the really difficult part is because online the test will say it's um you know received a certain um uh certification. So uh in in Europe where I'm based it'll be a C E mark. Um but the US FDA will also have you know will have um a certification on tests that will identify it as a a legitimate test. And but the problem is you have to actually order the test and read the instructions to see, oh, is this actually only approved for professional use? And that was our problem. We ordered a whole bunch of tests and found this out only once we actually received the tests. So it's it's really up to the providers to be providing um accurate information around the tests. And then if consumers find, you know, tests that are actually not meant to be sold to them, then to contact the regulators and say
I've received this test and it actually says it should be used by a doctor and not by me. Um, but it's that's also the problem with the regulation.
What role do influencers and celebrities play in promoting home medical tests?
It's almost up to the the companies themselves and then the consumers rather than um, you know, it's really hard to actually figure out if a test should be um uh is suitable for home
use. Can you talk about the role that social media influencers and celebrities might be providing in all of this?
Yeah. So we saw that these celebrities are advertised oh advertis almost like the digital storefronts to these um testing websites. um and you know, whether they are um, you know, um athletes, well known athletes, well known uh social media influencers, um, you know, people who have no real obviously health expertise who will be paid to advertise these tests and also Um, sort of uh try talk to you about the need to sort of access tests outside the traditional healthcare system. You know, you might not be able to get some of these tests if you go to your doctor.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What home medical tests are people buying and why are they popular?
0:00–1:19
2
Why are medical experts warning that many of these tests aren’t approved for home use?
1:19–2:06
3
How can consumers tell if a home‑testing kit is safe and properly certified?
2:06–3:02
4
What role do influencers and celebrities play in promoting home medical tests?
3:02–4:07
5
Are the results from DIY tests reliable compared to professional testing?
4:07–4:58
6
What steps should regulators and buyers take to improve safety in the home‑testing market?
4:58–5:51
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from KCBS Bloomberg Tech and Business Report
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