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We hear a lot about the wonders of genetic testing, how it can revolutionize medicine and find cures for fatal diseases.
A new study from the University of Michigan also shows how it can waste a half a billion dollars a year.
Researchers at the university examined testing for inherited thrombophilia, a genetic quirk that can indicate a patient’s likelihood of developing dangerous blood clots.
It sounds like a useful test to have. But, according to the researchers, knowing that you have the trait will not change your treatment.
“It really is one of these tests where there is no benefit to patients in the hospital,” said Dr. Christopher Petrilli, a University of Michigan hospitalist who coauthored the study. He noted that people who develop blood clots are treated with the same anticoagulant drugs, whether they have the gene or not.
Nonetheless, the study estimated the cost of the tests between $300 million and $670 million annually; Medicare received claims 280,000 times for the inherited thrombophilia test in 2014 alone, at a cost of between $1,100 to $2,400 a pop.
That means...