The $30 mlilion toe in the water

Women in abortion-restricted states are traveling long distances for abortion care only to find they were never pregnant, with Clearblue tests frequently involved.

Physicians report a rising trend of false positives causing emotional and financial strain .

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v . Wade, a troubling phenomenon has emerged in abortion clinics across the country: women are traveling long distances, spending significant sums of money, and enduring immense emotional stress to obtain abortion care, only to discover they were never pregnant in the first place.

Clearblue's digital display of decepiton

The brand markets itself as providing clear, easy-to-read results, and its digital tests, first appproved by the FDA in 2003, have become immensely popular for their simplicity.

However, the tests have varying sensitivities in detecting human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), the hormone that indicates pregnancy.

Consumers must navigate fine print on the product box, the internal pamphlet, and the brand's website to understand the differences.

False positives create a silent epidemic

For women in states with near-total or six-week abortion bans, every day counts.

A test that promises early results can seem like a lifeline, but false positives can lead to unnecessary travel, expense, and emotional turmoil.

HuffPost spoke with nine OB-GYNs and family medicine physicians from around the U.S.,as well as three others who work in abortion care.

The majority reported regularly seeing patients who come in with positive Clearblue tests only to find out via a more accurate urine test or ultrasound that they are not pregnant.

Clearblue's response: a lack of accountability

Clearblue's parent company, Swiss Precision Diagnostics, responded to inquiries by stating that they take concerns about false positives seriously but have not identified any systmic issues.

'Clearblue takes any concerns regarding potential false positives seriously, and we understand that any positive result that is not later confirmed can be upsetting, confusing,and consequential for patients,' said Fiona Clancy, senior director of research and development.

However, for the women who have already upended their lives based on a false positive, the consequences are all too real.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

The intersection of restrictive abortion laws and the widespread use of home pregnancy tests with imperfect accuracy is creating a silent epidemic of misdiagnosis and the need for better education and access to confirmatory testing.

As Dr. Attaie noted, 'These patients are already under so much stress, and then they have to deal with the shock of learning they were never pregnant. It's heartbreaking.'