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9 Eur. J. Health L. 87 (2002)
Genetic Discrimination: How to Anticipate Predictable Problems

handle is hein.journals/eurjhlb9 and id is 97 raw text is: European Journal of Health Law 9:87-92, 2002. 87 U 2002 Kluwer Law International. Printed in the Netherlands. EDITORIAL Genetic Discrimination: How to Anticipate Predictable Problems? Predictive medicine is changing the role of medicine and health in modern society. Thanks to advancements in this field of modern medicine we are increasingly able to foretell the health of human beings on the basis of medical information. This not only holds true for the individuals concerned, now that information on the health of individuals can also be utilised to predict the health and health risks of family members, future generations and in fact entire communities. Even though that treatment options still lag far behind, the more and more precise and expanding prognostic knowledge about human health is likely to play an ever more important role within and outside the clinical setting, and - not in the least - for the persons concerns who will have to cope with predictions, risks and uncertainties. In view of these developments, people will increasingly use medicine, and turn to health care providers, with predictive health questions and for risk assessments. This implies a shift from treating to predicting. It is, however, exactly given the imbalance between prediction (and sometimes even predetermination) and treatment that progress in the area of predictive medicine raises highly complex legal and ethical questions. These questions are particularly pertinent with respect to genetic data, that is to say information concerning a person's hereditary predispositions and susceptibilities. Different from 'conventional' health data, genetic information is not strictly individual but shared familial or collective 2 information, is permanent, can not - given the fact that treatment options are still in their infancy - be altered and has unprecedented social consequences. It also raises complex questions with respect to the disclose to relatives and the right not to know. Meanwhile, the term genetic discrimination has been coined to refer to situation where genetic data is being used to deny a person equal treatment or equal opportunities. In other words, an individual's genetic constitution, and notably the fact that a hereditary predisposition or susceptibility will or may cause a health disorder or premature death in the future, is being used to adversely treat a person in the present. Although it is still unknown to what extent people are, if at all, being discriminated against because of their genetic make-up, the European countries and institutions have already started to respond to anticipate major

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