The price of regulation. TMA study identifies costs of doing business

Things used to be a lot simpler for Larry James, MD. An Austin allergist for almost 20 years, Dr. James used to be able to conduct lab tests on his patients in his office and have the results in as little as 20 minutes. Then along came the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), passed by Congress in reaction to negative publicity (some critics called it media hysteria) over improperly read Pap smears, and Dr James' lab was out of business. Not because he did anything wrong, but because he was unwilling to put up with the bureaucratic hassle and expense of complying with CLIA.