CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
Illumina pursues blood-based cancer screening
Illumina has announced Grail, a new company formed to enable cancer screening from a simple blood test. Powered by Illumina sequencing technology, Grail will aim to develop a pan-cancer screening test by directly measuring circulating nucleic acids in blood.
Grail has been formed as a separate company, majority-owned by Illumina. Grail is initially funded by more than $100 million in series A financing from Illumina and Arch Venture Partners, with participating investments from Bezos Expeditions, Bill Gates, and Sutter Hill Ventures. Grail’s unique relationship with Illumina makes it possible to economically sequence at the high depths needed to create a screening test with the required sensitivity and a hoped-for level of specificity not yet achieved in cancer screening, according to an Illumina statement.
[hr]45% of pathologists report burnout
An online survey of more than 15,000 American physicians has found that nearly half of pathologists, 45 percent, reported burnout from their lives in medicine. However, that compared favorably to many other specialists surveyed by Medscape last fall, with critical care, urology, and emergency medicine leading the pack of 25 specialties profiled with 55 percent rates of burnout.
According to the “Medscape Lifestyle Report 2016,” pathologists ranked their level of burnout as 4.1 on a scale of five. That was lower than all but three other specialties—dermatology, rheumatology, and psychiatry. Critical care again scored tops, with a 4.7 level of burnout. There was a gender split in burnout among pathologists, as half of women reported burnout, compared with 39 percent of men in the specialty.
Bureaucracy, long hours, and “income not high enough” led the pack as contributors to burnout in pathology.
The full report, published Jan. 13, is available to Medscape registered users at http://j.mp/pathologylife. Registration is free. —Kevin B. O’Reilly
CMS cites deficiencies at Theranos lab
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a Jan. 25 letter giving laboratory startup Theranos 10 days to correct condition-level deficiencies in hematology, analytic systems, laboratory leadership, and personnel at its Newark, Calif., location. In hematology, the CMS said the problems “pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety.”
In reaction to the news, Theranos partner Walgreens said the laboratory must “immediately cease” sending Theranos Wellness Center tests to its lab in Newark, Calif. The drugstore chain also suspended Theranos laboratory services at Walgreens’ Palo Alto, Calif., store. Pennsylvania insurer Capital BlueCross suspended Theranos blood draws at the health plan’s Enola, Pa., retail location.
In a statement, Theranos noted the CMS letter does not apply to its Arizona laboratory, where more than 90 percent of the company’s tests are performed. At CAP TODAY press time in early February, the CMS granted Theranos an extension until Feb. 12 to submit its correction plan.
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