[sqrt2]

This reminds me of a blog post in German [1] by a person who due to a software bug had been falsely diagnosed by 23andMe with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. (Fortunately, he was able to identify that it was a misdiagnosis.) It appears that in this case potential misdiagnoses aren't just a theoretical problem.

[1] http://www.ctrl-verlust.net/23andme-wie-ich-fur-todkrank-erk...

[mntmn]

Hi. Original author of that article here. I decided to finally translate the article to english: http://mntmn.com/pages/23andme.html

[evan_]

23andMe is very clear at every step of the way that it is not diagnosing anything.

[sqrt2]

This is what 23andMe said about that person's genome:

"Has two mutations linked to limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. A person with two of these mutations typically has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy."

Of course this not a diagnosis in a technical sense, but to a lot of people it will sound like it is. Specifically, I don't see how this is "very clearly" not a diagnosis.

[anigbrowl]

https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/

Knowledge is power.

23andMe empowers you to better manage your health and wellness.

$99 [Add a kit]

There are no disclaimers on this page, just an aphorism, an assertion, and a call to action. Now I like the idea of 23andme, I like the company, and I'm educated and skeptical enough to enjoy some fluffy scientism for a hundred bucks, but don't tell me they're not selling the hell out of this.

[arrrg]

Well, the FDA seems to think that 23andMe does market its product as diagnosing something. That’s what this whole letter is about.