Abstract
Jones et al. should be congratulated for spotlighting the huge problem of diagnostic tests used to promote treatments that are useless or unnecessary. 1 The article notes that Australia’s National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council has issued standards for the use of such tests and announced plans to require laboratories to follow them. 2 Since many of the tests will remain available from laboratories based in other countries, I hope that the Council will also do what it can to block the sale of these tests by practitioners. I also hope that an international collaboration can produce factsheets for the general public on individual tests. The Quackwatch Web site, which I operate, lists about 200 dubious tests and discusses about 50 of them 3 but lacks the resources to provide a comprehensive guide.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Guarantor
SB.
Contributorship
SB is the sole author.