HIV tests are pretty simple, from a diagnostic test point of view. It's really a boolean - HIV present, or not present. The meaning of a particular genetic variant is much more ambiguous.
Re:FDA Warning Letter to 23andMe
by unclebucknasty on Monday November 25, 2013 @09:24PM
(#6798680)
It's odd to me that you're saying HIV tests can give definitive devastating diagnoses to people alone in their homes, yet they are OK; but genetic testing provides a range of possibilities and recommends further investigation, but they are somehow so devastating that they would drive someone to despair or suicide.
I'm not trying to equate things to HIV tests, and it's probably a poor example. I'm not sure what the reporting process for an in-home HIV test would be. I recently had a doctor tell me that she's not allowed to actually give the results of an HIV test over the phone for fear of patient reactions.
What I was trying to say was that that class of test should be easier to use and get a definitive yes/no answer with a smaller false positive rate.
But, you know, there are in-home HIV tests that are FDA-approved. They tend to stress professional counseling and/or follow-up testing, etc. They also explain such somewhat-technical details as the window between infection and antibody formation, so it's an education process there as well. But, I think the availability of such a test is testament to the fact that easier access to important knowledge re: one's status may be worth the risks.