Consistency May Be a Hobgoblin, But We Appreciate It Anyway

Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future blogs about an Australian company called Genetic Technologies that appears to be reneging on a promise to allow other screening labs to test for BRCA1 and BRCA2, for which it won exclusive testing rights in Australia and New Zealand five years ago. Earlier this month, MacArthur says, "familial cancer screening laboratories around Australia and New Zealand received letters from the company ordering that they cease offering the tests within seven days. ... The concern, of course, is that this move will grant a complete monopoly to Genetic Technologies as the sole testing facility in the region, driving prices up." MacArthur posits that the move may be an attempt to shore up the company's falling stock price.