Home »  Browse News Briefs »  Thousands of Faulty pregnancy tests

Source:

Thousands of women may be unaware they are expecting a baby after being exposed to faulty pregnancy tests.

London's Kingston Hospital is seeking more than 1,400 woman who may have been given the wrong test results.

Staff at 49 other hospitals across the UK are desperately trying to contact thousands more. There are concerns that women may be drinking heavily or engaging in activities that put their babies at risk.

The alarm was raised when an unnamed hospital contacted Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI), the global company that manufactured the faulty Clearview HCG pregnancy kits. IMI launched an immediate investigation, which resulted in the company writing to the 50 hospitals.

Bosses at Kingston Hospital said more than 1,400 women had taken the test at the hospital between 12 April and 1 June and could have been given the "false negative" result. A spokesman said: "We have already started contacting some of the women who took the test between those dates. "As a precaution, we wish to alert patients who attended the hospital between those dates and had a pregnancy test carried out. "If they have concerns they should contact the clinic or consultant at which they were seen at the hospital."

A spokesman for IMI said the faulty batch has now been recalled, adding: "We are confident that the problem has been correctly diagnosed and is being rectified." A Government medical watchdog said hospitals had been warned not to use the product from the faulty lot.