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16 Med. L. Int'l 3 (2016)

handle is hein.journals/medclint16 and id is 1 raw text is: MEDICAL LAW Article INTERNATIONAL Non-disclosure of genetic risks: The case for developing legal wrongs Medical Law International 2016 Vol. 16(1-2) 3-26 @) The Author(s) 2016 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.ukl/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10. 1177/0968533216653440 mli.sagepub.corn OSAGE Victoria Chico University of Sheffield, UK Abstract In ABC v. St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust, the High Court of England and Wales rejected the argument that doctors have a legal duty to disclose actionable genetic risks to a patient's relatives. This article reconsiders the concept of a duty to disclose actionable genetic risks in the context of widening perceptions of legal harm and developing pro- fessional and public perceptions of corresponding wrongs. Keywords Genetic risk, non-disclosure, legal harm, legal wrong, confidentiality Introduction When should information about future genetic risks be disclosed to a patient's unsus- pecting relative? This question has troubled genetics professionals for over a decade.' However, the question of whether a clinician owes a legal duty of care to disclose a genetic risk to a patient's relative was not considered by the English courts until May last year in ABC v. St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust.2 This case presented a particularly 1. K. Offit, E. Groeger, S. Turner, et al., 'The Duty to Warn a Patient's Family Members About Hereditary Disease Risks', Journal of the American Medical Association 292 (2004), pp. 1469-1473. 2. ABC v. St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust [2015] EWHC 1394 (QB). Corresponding author: Victoria Chico, School of Law, University of Sheffield, Bartolome House, Sheffield S3 7ND, UK. Email: v.chico@sheffield.ac.uk

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