Genetic test first for UK

URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_968000/968443.stm

Thursday, 12 October, 2000, 11:28 GMT 12:28 UK (date accessed: Oct. 13, 2000)

BBC News

              Genetic tests can predict future illness

              Insurers in the UK are to be allowed to use

              genetic test results to identify people with

              hereditary illnesses.

              The government will announce on Friday that

              insurers will be able to use those results to

              refuse cover or to push up premiums for those

              born with genes that could lead to fatal

              conditions.

              The decision makes Britain the first country to

              approve the commercial use of gene

              technology in this way.

              The Genetics and

              Insurance Committee,

              an advisory body

              reporting to the

              Department of Health,

              has decided that a test

              used to identify a

              hereditary risk of

              contracting the disease

              Huntington's chorea is

              technically reliable.

              Tests covering several other conditions,

              including hereditary breast cancer and

              Alzheimer's disease, are also awaiting approval.

              Two years ago another advisory body, the

              Human Genetics Advisory Commission,

              recommended a moratorium on the use of

              information from such tests.

              However, that advice was rejected by the

              government, which decided insurers should be

              able to use such information, subject to the

              Genetics and Insurance Committee agreeing a

              test's technical reliability.

              The announcement is likely to fuel the ethical

              debate over the use of genetic information.

              Critics fear that vulnerable groups could find it

              difficult to get a mortgage or life insurance, or

              face higher premiums.

              But the insurance industry dismissed that

              suggestion.

              No compulsion

              Professor John Durant, chairman of the

              Genetics and Insurance Committee, told the

              BBC that nobody would be asked to take a

              genetic test by an insurance company.

              Rather they would be

              expected to disclose

              the results of any

              genetic test for

              Huntington's disease

              they had taken in the

              past.

              Professor Durant said

              this would not be a

              legal obligation, but

              insurance companies

              would have the right to

              refuse to offer

              insurance if a customer

              refused to reveal details.

              He said: "It is not a punitive step. This will

              actually benefit very many people seeking

              insurance.

              "The only people who are likely to have taken

              a test for Huntington's disease are people with

              a family history of this disease.

              "Many of those people will actually have had

              results which show that they are fortunate

              enough not to have inherited the gene, so

              those people will be able to get insurance, at

              the moment they may well find it difficult."

              Mary Francis, the Director-General of the

              Association of British Insurers, said that

              companies already asked potential customers

              about family history of disease.

              She said: "This is really an extension of what

              already does happen."

              Sue Watkin, chair of

              the Huntington's

              Disease Association,

              also said insurance

              companies were already

              using genetic test

              results to calculate or

              refuse premiums.

              She said: "Our main concern is that people at

              risk of late onset genetic disorders should be

              able to get insurance of some kind up to a

              certain level.

              "At present, many people are made offers they

              just cannot afford."

              Ms Watkin said that a person at 50% risk of

              developing Huntington's often found their

              insurance premium loaded by as much as

              300%.

              She called on the government to establish a

              fund to be used to provide insurance for

              people at risk.

              The National Consumers' Council is concerned

              people will be put off having tests because

              they feared that the results might count

              against them - with a possible knock-on effect

              on their health.

              A spokeswoman said: "A person might think if I

              take a test I will know information that I don't

              know now, and maybe ignorance is bliss.

              "If you don't know the information you can't

              put it on the form."

              The Human Genetics Commission, another

              government advisory body overseeing

              developments in the use of genetic

              technology, said that it would launch shortly a

              major public consultation exercise about the

              use and protection of genetic information,

              which would include insurance issues.

              The exercise would eventually result in the

              Commission making recommendations to

              ministers.