|
| Future Perfect: Confronting Decisions About Genetics
ISBN: 9780231502481
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Columbia University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Genetic screening -- social aspects;
With the recently announced mapping of the human genome, the era of genetics is upon us. But how will this new information affect our decisions regarding genetic testing and treatment, especially if, as Andrews maintains, our ability to diagnose genetic diseases has outstripped both our ability to treat them and our related social policy? A scholar of science and law and an advisor to the National Institutes of Health, Andrews (Body Bazaar) offers a dry but insightful glimpse of the future, by examining three discrete policy models to determine which may be best suited for genetic testing. Andrews maintains that, currently, such decisions are being made by the "medical model," which stresses individual patient decisions but leaves patients too poorly informed to make good decisions. The "public health model," which is based on widespread educational campaigns or legally mandated acts such as vaccinations, is also inappropriate, because genetic diseases are not necessarily a public health problem. Moreover, mandatory screening could leave those who test positive discriminated against by employers and insurers. Instead, Andrews advocates a "fundamental rights model" that would empower the patient and ensure the high quality of health care services by requiring informed consent. Our goal now, she argues, should be to secure "an informed and knowledgeable health care provider base." The author then goes on to consider specific problems in genetic policy (e.g., the impact of negative test results, or the impact of genetic testing on minorities) under this plan. With its rather technical emphasis on how genetics will influence society and impact an individual psychologically, the book's primary audience will be policy makers, industry experts, physicians and public health officials. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Lori Andrews has been an adviser on genetic and reproductive technology to Congress, the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and several foreign nations including the emirate of Dubai and the French National Assembly. She is the author of nine books, including The Clone Age: Adventures in the New World of Reproductive Technology. A professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law, she is director of the Institute for Science, Law and Technology and Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. |
