Medichecks inaccurate??

[Judthepud]

Regarding Dee8686 post about the possible inaccuracy of Medichecks blood results (haven't been able to respond directly for some reason). Does anyone know if private labs are answerable to anybody other than their clients. Who governs them?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

The Doctors Laboratory Quality Policy tdlpathology.com/about-tdl/...

County Pathology just say it is accredited with CPA and the Health Care Commission countypathology.co.uk/FAQ/F...

There may be further information on their websites somewhere.

I have done 14 tests with Blue Horizon - 3 with phlebotomy service, rest by fingerprick, and 6 with Medichecks, all fingerprick. I have not had any reason to doubt any of the results from either of them. I sort of knew what to expect as I was tweaking doses of Levo and T3, and the results reflected what I was expecting. The only ones I wouldn't know anything about were the iron panel tests, done that twice.

[Judthepud in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for that. Hopefully they're well monitored.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Judthepud]

I think they are. To be honest, they've been going for a number of years, they must have done millions of tests, if there were any problems I think we'd find some evidence of it.

[Jazzw in reply to SeasideSusie]

Maybe this *is* the evidence of it....

Honestly, I don’t want to believe that someone simply didn’t bother doing my test - that a bored lab tech spotted I’d had a test 2 weeks earlier and simply “guessed” what my results might be 2 weeks later. It’s just what it looks like. The other thing that made me wonder whether the results were actually mine was that I asked for the results not to have commentary - and yet the commentary was there.

Then again, could be completely accurate and the results were right. Just vastly different. I guess I’m just frustrated that in order to figure out what’s going on, I’ve had to spend another £100 to find out.

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

Interesting you should bring this up. I also had a Medichecks test recently that I got surprising results from. Mine was the Thyroid Check Ultra. I paid for a nurse blood draw because I have problems with getting enough blood out for fingerprick tests. I also opted not to have the doctor report, but it was given anyway. Mine was sent to the lab on 26th April.Does that tie in with the date of yours? Just wondering if we could have been part of a rogue batch or something.

[Jazzw in reply to StitchFairy]

Yes! Also sent to the lab on 26 April! And also a Thyroid Check Ultra. Hmm. Well, that’s a coincidence... 🤔

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Jazzw]

That's very interesting! As so many members use them, it might be worth putting up a post to see if any other members did one that day or very close and if they thought there might be a problem. My last one was 9th May and it was only a Thyroid Monitoring test.

[Jazzw in reply to SeasideSusie]

Done

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

Curioser and curioser. I'm annoyed with myself now because I don't actually know where mine was posted to. I was having a nurse blood draw and knew it would be posted on my behalf, so I didn't bother to look at the plastic envelope to see which lab it was going to

[StitchFairy in reply to StitchFairy]

Just looked at the lab reference on my report and it starts with CP so I guess it's County Pathology.

[Jazzw in reply to StitchFairy]

Mine started CP too.

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

Right, seems too much of a coincidence then doesn't it.

[Jazzw in reply to StitchFairy]

Does, doesn’t it? Out of interest, did your results seem better or worse than you expected? Mine looked surprisingly better - a fortnight earlier I’d looked pretty undermedicated, and I didn’t change my dose, just took it a little earlier.

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

Mine suggest I was over medicated. TSH supressed, FT3 top of range and FT4 higher than I felt it should be. The results just don't tie in with what I was expecting. Also B12 higher than I expected.

[Jazzw in reply to StitchFairy]

Once again, exactly the same - not quite overmedicated, but my FT4 and TT4 came up from being under range (where they’ve been for a while (I take NDT)) to comfortably within range, with my FT3 at 5 something when a fortnight earlier it had been 3 something. And my B12 also way way higher than I thought it would be.

[Jazzw in reply to Jazzw]

Sorry StitchFairy had to edit that a couple of times to make it make sense... Maybe I should just link my post from that time! healthunlocked.com/thyroidu......

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

That's ok about the editing

It really seems too conincidental. I was planning another test in a week or two from now to see how it compares. But I'm really reluctant to cough up another £100 if the last test was wrong anyway

[StitchFairy in reply to Jazzw]

Ok just saw your post you've linked to and whilst our numbers are not the same, there is a definite similar pattern of very low TSH , higher than expected FT3, FT4 and B12 numbers.

[arjs1973 in reply to Jazzw]

I did the cortisol blood test, drove to my local hospital had blood drawn, very low result, so contacted gp they did another to conform and it came back with a much result a week later. Dr then said nothing wrong so confused as to which one to believe. left with no answers and out of pocket!! mine was done on March though x

[rosserk in reply to Jazzw]

Hi I sent my test to medicheck on the 27th April and had my results on the 1st of May. I requested a report from the Doctor and was sent one. I had blood tests at my GPs on the 27th and the nurse filled the sample tubes from medicheck. My surgery only test for TSH and the result was 3.7. I had the UltraVit test with medicheck and the TSH was 3.8 so the test was comparable for TSH. I have no reason to assume there was anything wrong with the other results. The Medicheck Doctor recommended an increase in Levothyroxine and stipulated my results indicated I was under medicated, which echoed how I was feeling. Since the increase in Levo and following the advice from the medicheck Doctor I am feeling a lot better. I tweeked my vitamins according to the results. In contrast I’ve had results from my local hospital that had to be repeated previously because there was an anomaly in the results. 😜

[LouiseRoberts in reply to Jazzw]

This is going to sound like a really daft question, but I assume that you have been in touch with Medichecks about this.

[lucylocks in reply to Jazzw]

Hi Jazzw,

I also got a commentary when I did not ask for one. Things are started to look a little strange.

[Dee8686]

I know mines a later date, but mine was also cp

[wightmouse]

I had thyroid check ultra test results on 25th April by medichecks sent to county pathology Guildford. My results were as expected slight increase in results as I had increased levo by 25mcg 8 weeks previously.

[SilverAvocado]

I would expect some percentage of results to be mistakes. It would be more surprising if they never made any mistakes at all.

Hopefully they will give a generous response if you get in contact with them.

[StitchFairy in reply to SilverAvocado]

But there's no way for us to prove the results are wrong. They only have our word for it.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to StitchFairy]

Given the Irish scandal re cervical cancer, I suspect a lot of labs are worrying about the reliability of their results. Even if they believe all is well, they will be concerned at any suggestions of inaccuracy.

theguardian.com/commentisfr...

[trelemorele in reply to helvella]

Oh my God, that's scandalous!

What have I just read! Women dying from cancer due to some lab cock up!

[humanbean in reply to helvella]

I had a faecal occult blood test for checking for blood in my poo in 2012. I'd first told doctors that I could see it in 2010. I could actually see the blood very easily - there was loads of it, it was impossible to miss. I was told the result was negative.

In all, it took three hospitals, four consultants (one of whom I paid privately) and three and a half years to find what was described as a "giant" polyp - and the fact that it was bleeding freely was confirmed as well.

My husband reached the age of 60 not that long ago. He was sent a card and instructions on how to produce three samples as part of the colon cancer screening program. He had no symptoms, and was given the all-clear.

When I had vast amounts of blood I was asked to supply one sample and was told it was negative. It was easy to find out why my test was a false negative. Take vitamin C supplements and it can happen to anyone. But there is no warning about this on the info sent to patients.

Luckily for me the examination of the polyp I had removed in 2013 showed that it wasn't cancerous. But to this day I don't think anyone actually tested the sample I sent in in 2012.

I have zero confidence in the screening systems and tests that are in place for various cancers.

[SilverAvocado in reply to StitchFairy]

It's possible they will have some evidence of a mistake themselves already.

But also I think it depends for generous/careful they are whether they take your suspicions seriously. The fact that some mistakes must be made sometimes hopefully means that they will do.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to SilverAvocado]

Absolutely!

It is possible, even very likely, that they retain some samples to permit re-testing for quality control purposes. That would be an obvious thing for them to do themselves - and could well be a requirement imposed by external QC auditors.

Otherwise, how could even the worst mistakes ever be tracked down?

I'd like to think that any complaints are passed on to UKAS - automatically. So if action is required, it cannot be avoided. But there again, we have companies like BMW apparently not doing what they should regarding recalls.

[LAHs in reply to helvella]

Yes, the quality control thing, I agree. Normally with any instruments there is a strict formality on calibrating every morning and logging the results with date and time. Print outs of results from the machines are usually filed or stuck in a daily log book. The lab should have no problem checking the results of the calibration for the dates mentioned here. That might be the first thing to request. It could have been an inexperienced technician doing the calibration and not knowing what to look for before declaring the instrument ready for operation, or someone didn't calibrate that day for some reason. If they won't do it for an individual make a request via a "safety and standards" organization, I am sure they exist.