Orig3n of the Specious

While the world grapples with a global pandemic with enormous cost of lives and livelihoods, some companies are finding an opportunity to make a quick buck from this crisis. One such company is the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company, Orig3n, Inc. DNA Exchange readers may recall that I wrote about Orig3n a couple of years ago when I sent a swab from my dog and tap water from the kitchen sink to Orig3n for their Child Development DNA test. In both cases, Orig3n issued test reports, failing to recognize that they were not human specimens. Given this experience as well as issues raised by numerous others, I was deeply troubled when I learned that the FDA had granted Orig3n accelerated authorization for a nasal swab based RT-PCR Covid-19 test. And unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised when news broke that Orig3n is failing in their Covid-19 testing. 

Last Friday it was reported that Orig3n miscalled several hundred Covid-19 tests for residents and staff at multiple long term care facilities throughout Massachusetts. Upon retesting by Orig3n and by the Broad Institute, 383 tests have been determined to be false positive. Previously, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) specifically recommended Orig3n to long term care facilities and has required rigorous and widespread testing for staff and residents in order to qualify for a Covid relief funding. As of August 8th, the Massachusetts DPH has halted Orig3n from performing Covid testing citing the laboratory director’s failure in providing management and the lack of quality control measures in testing. According to Robin Smith, CEO of Orig3n, “We’re currently working with the state of MA to finalize steps that will enable us to resume testing in our Boston lab,” in a statement to the Boston Globe.

Orig3n did not only perform testing for long term care facilities in MA. They have also been lauded by public health officials for providing tests to unhoused people in the greater Boston area and have been contracted by State public health systems, schools, and long-term care facilities throughout the country. Orig3n’s Chief Executive Officer reports that the lab has processed tens of thousands of Covid-19 tests over the past 90 days. This news out of Massachusetts  may be just the beginning of the test failure story. Keep an eye on North Carolina where the state department of Health and Human Services contracted with Orig3n to provide Covid testing, setting up more than 300 test sites to increase testing access for African American, LatinX/Hispanic and American Indian communities. In early August there were reports of a Covid surge in NC. A few days after the uptick in Covid cases was reported there, there was a news report that test results sent to Orig3n would be delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances” and that the State lab would now be performing these tests.

The fact that Orig3n has become a major provider of Covid-19 tests despite numerous prior concerns is a massive public health failure. While we desperately need access to testing, it is imperative that this testing is reliable and from a trusted source. There were significant limitations and gaps in regulation of laboratory testing prior to Covid, and the hopes that oversight of laboratory tests would improve have been dampened by a recent decision from the current administration and the United States department of Health and Human Services that premarket review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for laboratory developed tests will no longer be required. 

In 2018, after Orig3n released a test report for my dog and water from my kitchen sink for the Child Development genetic test, I filed official complaints about Orig3n with both the FDA and with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) – Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Region 1. In these letters I outlined concerns related to the laboratory’s technical proficiency and professional oversight, the lack of clarity of how Orig3n would store and use collected biological samples, and the bioethical issues related to direct-to-consumer genetic testing marketed for children. I received responses from both agencies. From the FDA ,“We take such reports seriously, and we will evaluate this matter to determine what follow-up action is appropriate. The type and extent of any follow-up is dependent upon the nature of the problem, the possible impact on the public health, and the availability of our resources.”  And I was assured through multiple correspondence that the Massachusetts Department of Health and CLIA-Region 1 were investigating my concerns. It should be noted that I have not been alone in reporting concerns about this lab – for an excellent summary of the pre-Covid concerns, see this Businessweek article.

How is it possible that despite the many public concerns raised, Orig3n could be fast-tracked by the FDA and recommended by the MA DPH as a vendor for testing so important as Covid-19 – the same agencies that have been investigating these issues? Certainly, questions of false results should have risen to the surface as possibly “impacting public health” when the FDA was considering authorization for Covid-19 testing, right? I can only assume that in the end, FDA and CMS just did not have adequate available resources or the authority to fully investigate and consider this and other concerns raised over the years.

Orig3n has had a troubled history, but I fear that this lab’s story is just the tip of the iceberg, especially as there are really no barriers to entering the Covid-19 testing market short of being a CLIA certified laboratory (and sadly, that seems to be a pretty low bar). Today there is a long and growing list of commercial labs throwing their hats in the Covid testing arena. Many of these once focused solely on direct to consumer testing are now pivoting their focus to on the more lucrative Covid-19 testing. I am sure genetic counselors out there recognize some of the names on this list of tests who have received Emergency use Authorization by the FDA Covid-19 testing. Although all of these labs have been granted authorization, I am certain the quality of the testing among these labs is not equal. From my discussions with friends and family who have gone through Covid-19 testing, it seems that the lab that is performing a Covid-19 test is not usually made transparent to the patient. When you put your trust in your healthcare provider, school system, long-term care facility, employer, or public health officials – you may never know what lab is performing the test.

False positive and false negative tests are a possibility with any screening test. While the issue that came to light with Orig3n was false positive tests, false negative tests are also a problem with testing for Covid-19 and issues with false negative tests are probably more difficult to recognize by laboratories and public health officials given that most tests are negative. (Side note: this story highlighted a horrible situation of two women’s real health concerns being dismissed by the medical system because of false negative tests). The algorithm published by many labs is that if your test is positive, it should be treated as positive regardless of whether or not you have symptoms. But if your test is negative and you have symptoms, you should seek a second test. But is there any way you can make sure your test goes to a trustworthy lab? As a patient, is there anyway to even know for certain, what lab is performing your test?

While we are in desperate need of testing for Covid-19, we need to ensure that the available testing is reliable. Public trust in our health system and in science itself is already incredibly fragile and fast-tracking any lab that wants to get into the Covid-19 testing business will do more harm than good in the fight against this virus. We need more resources for, and empowerment of, our regulatory bodies, at both the state and federal level, to allow for review, oversight and consumer protection of laboratory testing. With time, this Covid-19 crisis will end, but the need for this type of oversight across all types of laboratory testing, including genetic testing, will not. Orig3n’s Covid-19 testing errors are a good example of the type of harm that will constantly occur without it.