Nevada reverses ban on rapid "point of care" tests after federal pushback
Source: Associated Press
Nevada reverses ban on rapid tests after federal pushback
By KEN RITTER and SAM METZ
October 9, 2020
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) Nevada health officials said they would resume the use of rapid point of care tests after federal health officials chided them for banning their use and accused them of violating federal law.
Dr. Ihsan Azzam, Nevadas chief medical officer, doubled down on his insistence that too many questions remained about the accuracy of rapid antigen tests. He said his team was disappointed in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
We are not saying the tests have no use, we are just saying pause for further review and additional training, he said in a statement.
Earlier Friday, Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters that federal law prohibits states from imposing a ban like the one that Nevada health officials ordered Oct. 2. He said Nevada is the only state to do so.
The nation needs more, not less testing, especially in congregate settings, Giroir said in an Oct. 8 letter to Azzam and other state health officials. Your departments across-the-board ban on POC antigen tests ... is based on speculation. It may cost lives.
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