The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that faulty lab tests aimed at detecting cancerous tumors using biopsies may have misdiagnosed healthy individuals as sick in rare cases.
The problem was discovered in several batches of Roche's Rabbit Monoclonal Primary Antibody lab test, which assists in diagnosing tumors and could have resulted in a false positive result in the diagnosis and thus in the wrong treatmen
t.
Head of the ministry's Medical Directorate instructed hospitals in Israel to review cases where a positive result was received and to update the ministry should any misdiagnosed cases be found.
The Health Ministry noted that the particular test was only part of certain cancers' diagnostic process and is insufficient to diagnose a tumor.
After consultation with expert pathologists, i qualified and skilled doctor should be able to identify the misdiagnosis. "The Health Ministry will continue to update the public as needed," the ministry said.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry revealed it found another mishap, this time in software used in some hospitals which caused incorrect clinical information to be included in patients' medical records.