The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has advised people who have tested themselves with home-use HIV tests to get a second opinion.
In a consumer alert, the FTC has warned that some of the home-use HIV tests give inaccurate results. "The FTC recently tested HIV kits advertised and sold on the Internet for self diagnosis at home. In every case, the kits showed a negative result when used on a known HIV-positive sample," the alert stated, adding that the kits could give an HIV-positive individual "the false impression that he or she is not infected."
The FTC also noted that some Internet ads indicate that the World Health Organization (WHO) or US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved home-use tests. The WHO does not approve or license such kits and the FDA has not approved home-use HIV tests for sale in the United States. The FDA has approved . . . [Full Text of this Article]
