ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. PRIOR RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE A SIMILAR OUTCOME.
MILBERG LLP > Milberg LLP Investigates Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests

Milberg LLP Investigates Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests

Free Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Test Claim Evaluation
Denotes required field*

  3. (required)
  4. (required)
  6. (required)
  7. (valid email required)
  10. Please Check Genetic Test(s) Puchased
 


The submission of information to Milberg LLP or one of its attorneys does not create, and the receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. This website presents general information about, among other things, Milberg LLP, currently pending lawsuits, and on-going investigations, which is not intended to be legal advice, nor should you consider it as such. Please do not send confidential or sensitive information and/or documents to anyone at the Firm until you have been notified that a formal attorney-client relationship has been established. Contacting Milberg LLP does not, and should not, limit you in any way from seeking legal advice regarding this or any other matter.


*Denotes required field

Milberg LLP is investigating four companies that sell direct-to-consumer genetic tests, for possible violations of federal and state laws.  The four companies are:

  1. Navigenics
  2. 23andMe Inc.
  3. Pathway Genomics Corp.
  4. DeCode Genetics Inc.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) reported on July 22, 2010, that gene-testing companies are misleading U.S. consumers by providing unclear or conflicting information on the risk of disease and  that these companies engage in “deceptive marketing” and “questionable practices.”  The bogus gene tests typically cost between $299 and $999.

According to the report, gene-test reports assessing health risks are “medically unproven and so ambiguous as to be meaningless.”  Examples in the report include the following:

  • A Navigenics representative told a female customer, in a recorded telephone conversation played for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, that the above-average risk prediction she was given for breast cancer “meant she was in the high risk of pretty much getting the disease.”  Experts consulted by the GAO called the statement “horrifying because it implies the test is diagnostic.”
  • A Pathway Genomics representative told a customer that it would “absolutely” be acceptable to surreptitiously get some DNA from her fiancée and submit it for a test that would determine his ancestry.  Such an action would be illegal in many states.
  • The author of the GAO report said he submitted his own DNA to all four companies and was told by 23andMe and DeCode that his risk for developing prostate cancer was average, while Pathway told him it was below average and Navigenics said it was above average.

If you purchased a test from any of these four companies and would like to learn more about this investigation, or have any questions regarding this matter, please fill out the form to the right or contact  the following attorney:

Andrei Rado, Esq.
Milberg LLP
One Pennsylvania Plaza, 49th Fl.
New York, NY 10119-0165
Phone number: (800) 320-5081
Email: arado@milberg.com

Milberg LLP has been representing individual and institutional investors for more than four decades and serves as lead counsel in federal and state courts throughout the United States.  Please visit the Milberg website for more information about the Firm.


Attorney Advertising.
Prior Results Do Not Guarantee A Similar Outcome.

© 2012 Milberg LLP  |  ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. PRIOR RESULTS DO NOT GUARANTEE A SIMILAR OUTCOME.