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Made by New Jersey–based Quest Diagnostics, the $399 test can be purchased online by anyone age 18 and older in most US states, who then must go to a Quest clinic for a blood draw. The test measures blood levels of a protein called amyloid beta. As a person ages, amyloid beta tends to accumulate in the brain and can eventually form plaques, which are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. It’s thought that these clumps build up many years before memory loss and confusion appear.

For decades, employers have relied on workplace drug testing as a risk mitigation tool to effectively deter drug use and help prevent costly incidents. However, with cannabis legalization expanding, so is its use and acceptance. The connection between increasing cannabis availability and increased use of cannabis at work creates significant risks and costs for employers. So, why isn’t it possible to determine impairment from cannabis yet? “The main point many people fail to realize is that alcohol had decades, literally decades, of study to get to an impairment standard,” toxicology and workforce drug testing expert Barry Sample, of Quest Diagnostics, explains.

Quest Diagnostics launched on July 31 a direct-to-consumer blood test to detect abnormal levels of beta-amyloidTrusted Source, a protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease that can show up in the brain years before symptoms arise. The first-of-its-kind test, called AD-Detect, will cost $399, plus a $13 physician service fee. The technology is the same as the AD-Detect Amyloid Beta 42/40 Ratio blood test launched by the company in early 2022, which is available with a doctor’s order.

Laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc beat estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday, as people returned for regular checkups and tests that were delayed during a large part of the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-COVID testing at companies such as Quest and rival Labcorp was hit as people delayed routine health check-ups following pandemic-led lockdowns, but that demand has now started to normalize while COVID testing sales have fallen.

An analysis of 462 million lipid test results has shown mean total cholesterol levels exceed the target in seven of the 17 studied countries. Writing in the European Heart Journal, members of the Global Diagnostics Network (GDN) describe the evaluation of lipid test data generated by nine clinical laboratories working in 17 countries. Seth Martin, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discussed the analysis and the potential implications of its findings in a statement from Quest Diagnostics, the company that leads the GDN.

Quest Diagnostics said Thursday that women seeking to start or expand a family can now access the Proov Confirm PdG home collection kit for assessing fertility through questhealth.com. The Proov Confirm PdG test is the first and only FDA-cleared PdG (progesterone metabolite) home test kit to confirm successful ovulation. Through a collaboration between Secaucus-based Quest and Proov, the test is the first women’s health test from a third-party manufacturer available through questhealth.com.

For a decade now, the world has had highly effective medications for hepatitis C infections. In the United States, they’ve mostly been sitting on the shelf, according to a new study. A study published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals how deep the disparities in access to hepatitis C therapies have become. Using testing data from Quest Diagnostics, researchers were able to track the fates of 1 million Americans diagnosed with hepatitis C infections in the decade since the most effective drugs were introduced. Overall, just 1 in 3 were cured over that time period.

Quest Diagnostics has finalized its previously announced acquisition of Baltimore-based Haystack Oncology, the Secaucus clinical laboratory company said June 21. Under the terms of the deal unveiled April 27, Quest said it would pay Haystack $300 million in cash at closing, net of cash acquired, and up to an additional $150 million based on future performance milestones.

The ongoing flurry of marijuana legislation, court cases and cannabis-based products makes it difficult for HR professionals to craft policies that meet their company's drug-testing needs. The significant differences in state-by-state rules, definitions and interpretations of recreational and medical marijuana products have only added to the potential confusion. People in U.S. states that legalized recreational cannabis use it 20 percent more frequently than people in other states, according to a 2022 study in the journal Addiction. Nationwide, 4.4 percent of workers failed tests that Quest Diagnostics processed in 2020, up from 3.5 percent in 2012. The rate was slightly higher in states where adults are allowed to buy recreational marijuana.

Alzheimer’s disease is devastating to both patients and their families and caregivers. And while there are better means to diagnosis Alzheimer’s today, in many cases, it is only determined after symptoms become apparent. Today, about 6 million Americans are struggling with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. That number is expected to more than double by mid-century. In a wide-ranging discussion about the disease with CLP, Michael Racke, MD, medical director of neurology for Quest Diagnostics, outlines a new test that can help spot Alzheimer’s and other dementias earlier, what that means for treatment options, and how it could help transform Alzheimer’s into a manageable condition and not a death sentence for patients.