Complaint Review: Genova Diagnostics - Asheville North Carolina

I was seeing an integrative medical doctor for a myriad of health concerns, when ordered to take the Genova Diagnostics food sensitvities saliva test.   Knowing all was out of pocket- I was concerned at the price that was not disclosed to me until they had my card number. The entire test cost me $2,027, and turns out, I learned in the worst ways that it was all a 'sham'.  I believed in the investment- I feel like I was duped by a Ponzi scheme or something similar to the housing morgage crash- unregulated and convincing people who were not signing up for a gamble, or a maybe- but signing up for what was told to be legitimate.  I was explained by my dr that this test changed his life, he lost weight and felt the best he ever felt after a month.  I believed that I could get truth and answers that could get me WELL. 

For an entire year over 11,000 was spent towards integrative medicine- and durring that time I continued to get worse.  I paid into the high priced vitamins, xymogen- and still have no idea what I was taking and paying for, placebos? Bloating? Exaustion? My dr, 'had' to charge me 50.00 for the kit.  Lets just start with that.  50.00 for some cardboard, plastic saliva tubes and the overnight shipping was additional, since it had to be there within three days!  When I received my list of 'sensitivities' based on a series of red, yellow and green lines indicating my sensitivity levels, I made a list of what I could eat and realized, how can I be moderate to highly sensitive to yeast but fine with gluten? How can I be highly sensitive to chicken or beans I had never even tried before?   It was two weeks after I got the results, and completely changed my diet that I realized, I have a sensitivity to pretty much EVERYTHING.  How is this possible?  I then demanded that my dr culture a wound on my nose, that I could hardly breathe and was incredibly ill- had reached my threshold of weakness and still following their diet!  Turns out I had HEAVY MRSA and pseudamonas undiagnosed for I don't want to even think of how long, but it was amazing I lasted as long as I did without having high fevers, maybe the vitamins kept me just below the extreme symptoms? I was pretty much just living on the vitamins and protein drinks costing up to 800 a month.   I was unable to absorb the oral antibiotcs and was then sent to get IV for 7 weeks and with still determined to take the integrative approach, which the strongest antibiotic is what actually got me well.  My inclination was to blame my Dr, for not diagnosing me- yet then, at my follow up visit, he asked me if I was getting better- I said absolutely weak, I cannot eat anything but red meat, as listed on the sensitvities, and that makes me nauseas with this antibiotic- a few different types of beans.  I only felt like chicken soup and crackers- both I deprived myself of, because I thought it would be worth it in the end, I would feel amazing and well, but had to sacrifice what most people can keep down when sick.  It also said that I had a high sensitivity to pomegranate.  I did not understand this, because i never experienced any problems with pomegranate. 

Four weeks later, I went for my follow up, hardly able to walk up the stairs to his office, but determined I was still on the healing path!  It was at that appointment that my Dr then told me, oh, that test was actually a sham.  Apparently another patient, an elder woman, who had never even tried pomegranate or knew what it was had the same RED high sensitivity.  I asked him if he was serious?? Why didn't he call me immediately to tell me this?  Why did he hold onto this information, let me continue with this 'diet' to get me 'well' that cost over 2 K, and not call me immediately?  Why was I then paying for an office visit to learn this information, wasting any bit of energy I had to get to his office?   I said to him, 'so, basically, what you are telling me is I just paid your Dr fee to learn that 2,027 dollars was just thrown in the trash and we have to take a different test and I would not be reimbursed?' I felt incredibly stupid, the money wasted to purchase all the food I could hardly stand, beets, red meat, navy beans, spinach while fighting MRSA and just wanting some broth and crackers to keep me from getting more nauseas.  I wasted so much time depriving myself, I was keeping myself from healing from the infection.  My infectious disease Dr bowed his head solumnly when I told him, how I had been taking vitamins and saliva tests.

I believe that it was a scam on BOTH parts, the Dr and the Lab.  The amount spent on bio feedback, all the vitamins, the tests, the cost of the only foods I could eat being all specialty and expensive,  pretty much- red meat only, no fish, pork, chicken, eggs- just red meat.  Tell me anyone who has or was with a MRSA outbreak who could convince themselves red meat sounds like a comforting thing to eat? I deprived myself because I believed these results are real. 

I hope that people read and believe that this company is disgustingly greedy.  I am sure the Drs benefit from this 'relationship' and the true cost is lost in what I was overcharged.  It is a disgrace to health practice, to take advantage of this idea of 'new medicine' when there really is new medicine out there and they took advantage of that, disgracing the people out there who really are doing legitimate work- to find alternatives to traditional medicine.  Of course I will not be reimbursed.   I still want to believe there is an intgrative approach that truly is honest and not filled with entitlement to price things higher, convincing people that they are getting more than the average medical treatment. Some one please sue them until they pay back for their greed and illigitimate testing.  Please bring justice to those of us who were so weak, and seeking answers and they took advantage of our willingness to trust them and their products.    Stop the lies and deceit and own up to your mistakes.  Both the Drs. who promote and sell these tests and the lab itself. Shut this place down immediately.