Gene tests could raise insurance premiums
www.moneynews.co.uk > Insurance > Gene tests could raise insurance premiums
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Money News |
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Gene tests could raise insurance premiums
Fri 8th Jun 2007
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Dr Richard Ashcroft, professor of biomedical ethics at the University of London, wrote in the British Medical Journal that there was a risk that people applying for policies would be discriminated against because of the results from new tests.
The Wellcome Trust announced this week that it had identified genetic 'markers' for a series of conditions including depression, Crohn's disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Insurance companies which offer life, critical illness and medical insurance have said that they should be made privy to this information when calculating premiums.
However, Dr Ashcroft warned that the appearance of a genetic marker does not mean that a person will develop a particular condition: "It is important to note how genetic information can be misunderstood, or its importance overestimated and therefore used in discriminatory ways.
Professor Soren Holm, of Cardiff Law School, took an opposing view, stating that the results of gene tests are no different from any of the other medical records that are currently disclosed to insurance firms.
"If we allow insurers to obtain some kinds of health information, such as body mass index, cholesterol concentration, or results of a physical examination, we no longer have any principled reasons for excluding genetic information," he wrote in the British Medical Journal.
Related News : Insurance |
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