This article was last reviewed on
This article waslast modified on 10 July 2017.

Lab Tests Online-UK Technical lead, Stuart Jones, has written about the dangers that misleading and inappropriate diagnostic tests pose to the general public and how inadequate regulation means they are more widely available than ever. Read his article for the BBC Health website.

This article follows Stuart's work with the charity Sense About Science who last week published a Making Sense of Allergies guide. Misleading allergy tests are increasingly easy to access online and frequently lead to incorrect diagnoses and in some cases harm to patients.

Visit the Lab Tests Online-UK web page on Unvalidated and misleading laboratory tests for more information on the laboratory tests to be avoided.