Blood Drug Testing

Blood Tests.?

Can someone tell me why so much blood is taken in North America when doing blood tests? My roommate says that in Europe they only take a drop and they can do many tests with that. Are we less efficient here?

Public Comments

1. I don't know about European lab testing but here in the states there are alot of factors when it comes to lab tests. 1.Our hospital's ER draws a "rainbow" of tubes, almost one of every color, so that patient will hopefully not have to be stuck again. 2. Some tests require a full tube of blood because that tube contains special materials that prevent blood from clotting and if that ratio of blood to anticoagulant is messed up, the tests for that tube will be false. 3. Any other time, the phlebotomists are trying to make sure that there is enough blood for the tests the doctors have ordered and for any more that they might add on. Our machines do use a fairly small amount of specimen. But sometimes, you might have to run it two or three times, or do extra tests to get results for the one ordered. Hope I didn't confuse you. Hope this helps!!