Hundreds of people who took a swab test at New York clinics were falsely informed they tested positive. The New York Post reported that a total of 213 people were given the rapid mouth-swab HIV test in New York between November 2007 and April 2008, and nearly half of them received false positive results.

When the patients were tested again their results came negative. Dr. Susan Blank, assistant DOH commissioner and director of the bureau of STD control, told the Post that all the people who tested positive after taking the swab test were immediately given another test — one that required a blood sample. "Nobody was misled or harmed," Blank said.
 
Manufactured by Orasure technologies, the rapid fire swab test which was first introduced to New York City clinics in 2005 is no longer being used. The Health Department, Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Orasure Technologies are investigating the reason for the increase in false positive test results.