Clinic rapped over ad claiming 100% accurate Covid antibody test
A PRIVATE health clinic ad was banned after it claimed a Covid-19 antibody test was “100 per cent accurate” and for implying that a positive result would show that people were immune.
The website for Solihull Health Check Clinic included a page which featured text stating it was offering tests with 100 per cent accurate results within 24 hours, with text stating “Public Health England and Government Approved”.
The ad also claimed that its test could indicate whether a person had developed an immune response to coronavirus.
After complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the West Midlands-based clinic said it only used the Abbott antibody test which has been found to demonstrate 100 per cent sensitivity and 97.5 per cent specificity.
The clinic said it did not claim to be endorsed by anyone but that it highlighted the test was approved by Public Health England, which provided the results for inclusion into official testing statistics.
While the ASA accepted that the accuracy of tests could be evaluated in terms of sensitivity and specificity, it said neither of these terms were referred to or explained in the ad. The ASA said: “We considered that neither the sensitivity rate, nor the specificity rate, when used in isolation, were likely to conform with consumers’ likely understanding of “100 per cent accuracy” as presented in the ad. We noted that no information on variation of accuracy depending on when the sample was taken was presented in the ad.
“While the sensitivity results presented by different sources varied, they indicated that a negative test result did not rule out the possibility of a previous infection with Covid19.”
It said the ad was misleading as it considered the claim “100 per cent accurate results” an indication that the antibody test would detect, without fail and in all circumstances, whether or not a patient had contracted Covid-19, which was not substantiated by evidence.
The watchdog said it had not seen evidence the Abbott antibody test had received endorsement from Public Health England, which rendered the ad misleading on this point.
On the claim that the test could indicate a person’s “immune response”, the ASA said it was “technically
accurate” but that it took into account “the wider context of the ad and public discussions around the importance of developing an antibody test which could indicate immunity”.
It continued: “A test which could indicate immunity to Covid-19 would have significant implications for the return to life before the pandemic and we therefore considered that advertisers should be very clear about the service they offered. We noted that there was no information in the ad itself which explained that a positive antibody result did not mean that a person was immune.”