NYT and WSJ cover Myriad's campaign

I have been silent on this for too long. Why? I was awaiting the review by my attorneys. The last thing I need is another threat of litigation. Why litigate? Because, critics like myself and the esteemed Ellen Matloff from Yale :) have been telling physicians that testing for BRCA ain't like checking a sodium.....or even better a pregnancy test.

Why can you get a pregnancy test over the counter? Because its results are crystal clear. The FDA has requirements for OTC testing. This whole issue was raised with at home HIV testing. The issues were portrayed here.

The interesting questions poses include these.

What test characteristics favor possible approval of an OTC home-use HIV test?

• The test is simple to use compared to other types of HIV tests and earlier versions of rapid HIV tests, suggesting that untrained persons will be able to perform the test properly.
• The test does not require special storage conditions.

The most interesting one was......

• Informational materials supplied with the test are sufficient to provide adequate information to potential users on performing the test and to substitute for live counseling.

Now my question is....has it even been proven that written materials substitute for adequate face to face counseling? Never for BRCA testing. So why does it take evidenced based medicine to prove a drugs efficacy? Well, partially because the FDA's evaluation is not about efficacy. It is about danger to the patient. Is there danger in not getting cancer screening if your BRCA test is negative? (Which BTW is not an appropriate counseling answer to the patient)

Yes, I do agree with Hsien. Direct to consumer advertising is a great way to introduce new products. Like the iPOD.

"Advertising serves to bring new products to our attention and to stimulate interest as well as the desire for more information. In the case of genetics and genetic testing, I would venture to say that all of us need to learn more, not less."

But the best way to learn about breast cancer risk is by being able to ask question to a knowledgeable, trained, health professional. How do we learn more about genetics? Take a freaking class, don't try to do self counseling for G-d Sake. Has anyone seen the Edward Jones commercial where the surgeon is telling a guy sitting at his kitchen table how to do surgery? Over the phone the surgeon asks "Did you sterilize the field?.....Good now with your kitchen knife make a 3 inch incision.........."

This is the type of thing that DTC testing is trying to get you to do. Patient empowerment aside, I don't let my patients prescribe their own meds. I even guide them on vitamins that they take. Did anyone see the expose on the Vitamin Shoppe's vitamins containing abnormally high amounts of lead. It was on Good Morning America a couple month's ago.

Well as the post was entitled the NYT and the WSJ had article on this yesterday. The ad campaign is telling you to go see you internist, OB/Gyn, or family practitioner. Guess what none of them have had training regarding this topic. There are less than 100 internist/geneticists in the country and even fewer OB's and FP's. According to the WSJ

Myriad says it is developing a program to school primary-care doctors about the test. Dr. Critchfield said the company is focusing on primary-care doctors, oncology specialists and tertiary-care centers, along with genetic counselors, "to get the message out."

What struck me was the benevolence of Dr Critchfield, who in the NYT article

Dr. Critchfield said Myriad waited nearly five years to start the new campaign to give more time for health care providers to learn to handle genetic testing. “We are in a far different place today than we were then,” he said.

The Sherpa Says: Well Dr Critchfield, you are incorrect. Clearly he has no clue or doesn't want to sour the internists' palate. OB's regularly fail to recognize at risk and not at risk groups, so do internists. As for the newest batch? I just tested primary care residents at a major academic center and only 30% recognized that a BRCA test was NOT indicated. Maybe that's what Myriad is looking for? If you want the literature I have quoted, send me an email and I will be more than happy to forward it on. As for the 8 month wait, Helix Health of Connecticut is open for business and seeing patients in less than a month!!!