Can Blood Tests Get Mixed up?

Although mix-ups of blood test samples are rare, they do happen. How your blood sample is handled before it's analyzed can affect results, too. For example, if the sample is collected in the wrong container, shaken inappropriately, or stored for too long or at the wrong temperature, you may get an erroneous result.

Can blood work be wrong sometimes?

However, depending on the test, the manufacturer, and how common a disease is, some tests can be incorrect as often as 50% of the time (like in the case of mammograms for breast cancer diagnosis) or accurate nearly 100% of the time (like in the case of a urine test for chlamydia).

How often do blood labs make mistakes?

It is estimated that seven to ten million patients receive an inaccurate blood test result annually. Approximately 35,000 labs run high complexity tests. Many more run routine tests and are not subject to inspection every two years by federal regulators.