BMJ  2007;334:1197 (9 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39216.425231.AD

Feature

Head to head

Should genetic information be disclosed to insurers? No

Queen Mary, University of London, Institute of Health Sciences Education, London E1 2AT

UK insurers have said that they may seek approval to use the results of genetic tests for cancer from next year. Søren Holm believes they should have to pass the results on to insurance companies, but Richard Ashcroft argues that the risks of disclosure justify privacy in most cases

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

A strong case can be made for requiring people who have had genetic tests to disclose that fact to insurers when they purchase life, critical illness, or health insurance policies. There are essentially three arguments for this position: that genetic information is not essentially different from other kinds of health information, that non-compulsory insurance depends on full and truthful disclosure by the applicant to protect the integrity of insurance underwriting and risk pooling, and that because insurance is a private arrangement between freely contracting parties, each party is entitled to set the terms of the contract in negotiation.

I would accept all of this. Indeed, it is the consensus in both the academic and the policy literature that under ideal conditions we have no reason to treat genetic information differently from any other kind of health information.¹ Nevertheless, most jurisdictions do impose restrictions on insurers' power to request and use . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Effect on premiums is small

R Guy Thomas
BMJ 2007 334: 1288. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Morals and ethics and medicine

Douglas Kamerow
BMJ 2007 334: 0. [Extract] [Full Text]

Should genetic information be disclosed to insurers? Yes

Søren Holm
BMJ 2007 334: 1196. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Genetic discrimination in life insurance: empirical evidence from a cross sectional survey of genetic support groups in the United Kingdom

Lawrence Low, Suzanne King, and Tom Wilkie
BMJ 1998 317: 1632-1635. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Van Camp, N, Dierickx, K (2008). The retention of forensic DNA samples: a socio-ethical evaluation of current practices in the EU. J. Med. Ethics 34: 606-610 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Thomas, R G. (2007). Effect on premiums is small. BMJ 334: 1288-1288 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

How much difference does it make to insurance prices?

R Guy Thomas
bmj.com, 8 Jun 2007 [Full text]

Non-disclosure of tests may improve utilitarian welfare

R. Guy Thomas
bmj.com, 2 Jan 2009 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>