Investigating the Prenatal Testing Market

The Daily

The New York Times

News, Daily News

4.5 • 97.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 January 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. About a decade ago, companies began offering pregnant women tests that promised to detect rare genetic disorders in their fetuses. The tests initially looked for Down syndrome and worked well, but later tests for rarer conditions did not. An investigation has found that the grave predictions made by those newer tests are usually incorrect. We look at why the tests are so wrong and what can be done about it.

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0:00.0	Today's episode of The Daily is sponsored by BetterHelp.
0:03.5	Why not take the next 10 seconds to focus on your breath, whatever you are doing, wherever
0:08.1	you are.
0:09.1	Breathe in.
0:10.9	Breathe out.
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0:23.6	Listeners get 10% of their first month at BetterHelp.com slash daily pod.
0:28.4	From the New York Times, I'm a Steadhurndon.
0:36.3	This is The Daily.
0:40.7	Today, over the past decade, medical companies have begun offering pregnant women, new screening
0:51.9	tests that promise to detect rare genetic disorders in their fetuses.
0:58.4	But those women weren't told.
1:00.1	But that if they tested positive, there will be a high likelihood that the result would
1:05.8	be wrong.
1:07.5	A Times investigation reveals how tests that promise peace of mind have instead caused
1:14.3	anguish and confusion.
1:31.4	So Sarah, how did you come to this store?
1:47.0	People with a LIPSL For Bitters test test experience and try and reach a best-selling
2:06.1	series concept.
2:13.6	seeing the same kind of story repeated again and again, where someone who was pregnant went
	...

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