UNION, N.J., June 3 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time,
patients being tested for leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood and
bone marrow malignancies can be certain that their test results are
their own and not those of another patient. PLUS Diagnostics,
a leading anatomic pathology company, announced today that it has
introduced the industry’s first system to eliminate
misidentification and matching errors of bone marrow biopsy
samples.

The median rate for specimen misidentification among U.S. health
care providers including physician offices is as high as 1.31 for
every 1,000 specimens, according to a 2008 study conducted by the
College of American Pathologists. The national press has
highlighted several incidents in the past year in which patients
have received incorrect cancer diagnoses and treatment, or lack of
treatment, because their samples were mismatched with someone
else’s samples.

“The consequences of misidentifying or mismatching a bone marrow
sample are irrevocable. Undergoing a bone marrow biopsy procedure
is incredibly painful.

Receiving an incorrect diagnosis because that biopsy sample was
mismatched is traumatic at best and can be deadly at worst,” said
Dave Pauluzzi, president and COO,
PLUS Diagnostics. “By introducing this new system, PLUS has taken
another step toward enhancing patient safety throughout the testing
process, from drawing the sample in the physician’s office to
delivering it to the laboratory for testing, to ensure that doctors
and their patients can have the highest levels of confidence in
their results.”

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