Media Coverage

About half of young children who were tested for lead had detectable levels of the toxic metal in their blood, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. The new study is the first to examine low levels of lead in children’s blood, enabled by more sensitive technology, said Harvey Kaufman, a co-author of the study. Kaufman is also senior medical director at Quest Diagnostics Inc., which performed the testing for the study.

Last week, Quest Diagnostic DGX issued its periodical media statement on the company’s COVID-19 testing-related business performance. The company noted a dramatic increase in testing demand through July to September, as the United States is seeing a surge in the Delta variant-led cases.

Illustrating the extent of the boom, Quest Diagnostics on Thursday raised its full-year revenue outlook by hundreds of millions of dollars. The Secaucus, N.J.–based company cited "stronger than anticipated" demand for its molecular Covid tests since it released its second quarter financial results and full-year guidance on July 22.

A new study suggests that U.S. cancer diagnoses have declined because of pandemic-related upheaval. Researchers from Quest Diagnostics used records of newly diagnosed cancer patients who received testing at Quest. In the year before the pandemic hit, the monthly average of new diagnoses was 32,000. In the most recent period, November 2020 to March 2021, the monthly average was about 26,000 — suggesting thousands of people skipped screening tests or checkups in the last year.

New cancer diagnoses in the U.S. remained below the pre-pandemic period over the winter despite evidence cases were missed earlier in 2020, according to an analysis of data from Quest Diagnostics.