
Updated FDA Covid-19 testing guidelines disallow at-home sample collection - jessriedel
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/23/updated-fda-covid-19-testing-guidelines-specifically-disallows-at-home-sample-colllection/
======
gojomo
Judged by its obstructionist actions, you would think the FDA wants more
Americans to be infected – by forcing them to leavethe home, to visit health
facilities highly-trafficked with many other suspected-infected.

Or just to remain infected & not know.

~~~
jessriedel
What frustrates me the most is that, even under emergency conditions, their
public justification consists solely of raising the hypothetical that some
patients might draw the wrong conclusions from these tests without even
acknowledging the possibility that some could be harmed by being denied access
to the tests. There is zero indication that the risks have been weighed
against the benefits.

At least in non-emergency situations you could argue that the regulation
forces the company to study and document the difference between how home and
out-patient tests impact the patients. Then you can decide whether to allow
the test using that information. But that information will clearly take
_weeks_ or _months_ to obtain, and in an emergency we have to make our best
assessment on what to do in the meantime. It's possible to harm a patient by
giving them information that is subtle and difficult to interpret, but our
prior _has_ to be that, all else equal, the patient will usually benefit with
more information than less!

