October 10, 2007
CONTACT: Alan Mertz
PHONE: 202-637-9466

Patients Speak Out on the Value of Lab Tests in New Video

Arlington, VA - In a new eight-minute video, premiering at the Washington G-2 Reports Lab Institute 2007 meeting in Arlington, Virginia, patients who have struggled with diabetes, leukemia, and other medical conditions speak out about how medical lab tests played a critical role in detecting and helping manage their conditions. Comments by two key Members of Congress in the video-House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel of New York and Representative Charles Boustany of Louisiana-emphasize both the health care value and cost-saving nature of lab tests. Kelly Ripken, wife of baseball great Cal Ripken, relates how laboratory tests helped unravel her elusive diagnosis.

The video was produced by Results for Life, an educational campaign promoting the value of laboratory testing being conducted by a coalition of clinical laboratories, physicians and professional laboratorians, and diagnostic test manufacturers.

"Healthy people are what you get from lab testing," said Alan Mertz, President of the American Clinical Laboratory Association, which is spearheading the Results for Life effort. "In so many cases, lab tests give us the roadmap for preventing diseases before they start and controlling diseases before they get worse. A $30 panel of tests for lipids not only can help prevent heart disease but can also save tens of thousands of dollars in medical treatments and time off the job."

The new video stream is viewable on the Results for Life website at www.labresultsforlife.org.

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