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A comment on Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enough to be rolled out. Parent comment

Re:Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enou... by throwawaynotmd on Friday June 25, 2021 @03:19PM (#27635115)
It’s not enough to say it’s harmful. How is it harmful? A blood test, for example, cannot be inherently harmful. (Okay, no more harmful than drawing blood). So it must be about what people then decide to do based on that test. That’s what my post is about.
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Re:Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enou... by vidarh on Friday June 25, 2021 @04:18PM (#27635751)
Do enough of them, and even basic blood tests cause harm. Infections happen. Rupturing veins happens.

If your tests are for conditions that are rare enough, and where early detection does little enough to improve outcomes, even a tiny risk like that becomes a problem.

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Re:Blood test that finds 50 types of cancer is accurate enou... by Fomite on Friday June 25, 2021 @03:42PM (#27635356)
But vanishingly rarely are diagnostic tests given and then the results ignored. That's not how consumers of healthcare nor clinicians work.
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