The measurements of a number of common analytes can be markedly affected by the lipemia produced by lipid emulsions such that they cannot always be interpreted in the way that most physicians use this information in typical clinical situations. In fact, a lack of appreciation of this effect may lead to unintentional treatment errors. Because the effect of the lipemia produced is dependent on the reagents and laboratory platform used, it would be useful for all future reports to clearly document sample handling, reagents and laboratory platform used, as well as any procedures employed to reduce the lipid content.