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Australia

"Harry Potter inspires blood type breakthrough"

Source: ABC Science Online

Published: 02 May 2012

Category: Diagnostic Test

Rating: (2½ stars)

Keywords: blood type test device

what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

A scene from a Harry Potter film has inspired a new user-friendly device that literally spells out what blood type you are.

The original article can be found at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-01/harry-potter-blood-type-breakthrough/3982670

how did it rate? (more information)

Criteria	Rating
Total Score	5 of 10
Availability of Test	Satisfactory (?)
Novelty of Test	Satisfactory (?)
Diagnostic Options	Satisfactory (?)
Disease Mongering	Satisfactory (?)
Evidence	Not Satisfactory (?)
Quantification of diagnostic accuracy and benefits	Not Satisfactory (?)
Potential harms of Testing	Not Satisfactory (?)
Costs of Testing	Not Satisfactory (?)
Sources of Information	Not Satisfactory (?)
Relies on Press Release	Satisfactory (?)

what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This story would have benefited greatly from consulting an independent expert. We are told the advantage of this new test over current tests is the easy interpretation in emergency situations. However, we are not told what the accuracy and error rates of this test are, how much blood is required for this test, or how long it takes to get a result. It would also have been interesting to know how the research was done (apart from watching Harry Potter), and how much this test will cost compared to the existing tests.

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