U.S. health secretary expresses confidence in Abbott's fast COVID-19 test

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar speaks during a news briefing on the administration’s response to the coronavirus at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Trump administration official said on Friday the government still has confidence in Abbott Laboratories’ (ABT.N) speedy coronavirus test, which is used at the White House but which regulators have warned could deliver inaccurate results.

“We got 15 adverse event reports … and so we, at the FDA and the manufacturer, are going to be studying and tracing those down,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Fox Business Network. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of it, but we still have confidence in the test or we wouldn’t have it on the market.”

The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday early data about the Abbott ID Now test suggested it could produce potentially inaccurate results, particularly by failing to detect people who have the illness.

Reporting by Tim Ahmann, Editing by Franklin Paul

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source: reuters.com