Posted on 10/17/2014 8:49:25 AM PDT by maggief
The Film Array can screen for Ebola with 90percent accuracy
It is being using by US military doctors in West Africa
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital had one of the $39,000 devices but could not use it to diagnose diseases
The military has given the Utah-based developer of the machine a $240million grant to perfect deadly virus detection
The Dallas hospital that sent home Thomas Eric Duncan the first time he showed up at the emergency room has a machine that could have detected Ebola in less than an hour - but doctors were barred from using it because of federal regulations.
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has treated three Ebola patients - Duncan, who died last week, and two of its own nurses who contracted the disease from Duncan. In each case, the hospital had to wait up to two days for confirmation that that patients were infected with the virus.
The Associated Press has also reported the medical records reveal nurses didn't wear full protective gear while treating Duncan for two days while they awaited the results of his Ebola test.
However, military news site Defense One reports that doctors could have simply turned on a toaster-sized device called the Film Array and gotten a diagnosis within minutes.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
90% accuracy?
Considering that the current outbreak started form a single person being infected in Africa, I’d say that success rate stinks.
....and does our troops and national guard sent to Africa to “fight Ebola” have this device......enquiring minds seek to know.
BioFire Diagnostics, a Utah-based firm that produces disease detection technology, confirmed that the Dallas Presbyterian Hospital did in fact have one of the machines (possibly for as long as two years) sitting on the shelf when Duncan came in.
But unless hospitals agree to use the machine specifically for research purposes, rather than actually diagnosing patients with Ebola, they can’t look for Ebola in samples.
The FDA rules in what are called “research use only” machines are far more lax than for machines that must provide clinical diagnosis. According to representatives from BioFire, even after the FDA approved the use of the machine for Ebola screening and allowed workers at the hospital to acquire the proper kit for Ebola testing, a 10-20 day “validation” procedure would kick in before they could change the machine’s use from diagnostics to research — and the results would have to go to the Centers for Disease Control for confirmation.
There is literally NOTHING that can't be screwed up and made worse by federal bureaucrats.
That explains why we sent these to Africa and have to wait hours or days here. To heck with Africa! These should be spread about the country.
A positive confirmation and quarantine almost immediately will reduce the odds of it spreading.
This is another case of government being so big that all the arms interfere with each other.
“The Dallas hospital that sent home Thomas Eric Duncan the first time he showed up at the emergency room has a machine that could have detected Ebola in less than an hour - but doctors were barred from using it because of federal regulations.”
Sounds like some great civil law suits by any HCW worker in that Dallas Hospital who was infected with Ebola or suffer severe mental depression or PTSD from being exposed.
So who banned this test, CDC or FDA?
Ping!
And a missed hit is the start of an epidemic.
What and where are those regulations?
Both. See post #5.
Probably could somehow hurt an endangered flea.
I’m shocked, just shocked.
I’m glad the British media is willing to do our media’s job.
My God.
This needs to be shouted so every one knows.
Federal Regulations.......... Either way, 0 will blame the hospital.
What we need is another political hack attorney to oversee this fiasco. Oh, wait ...
:o/
If the hospital’s medical director had had any balls, he would have said screw the FDA...roll out that machine and crank it up!
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