Just genetic discrimination? The ethics of Australian law reform proposals.

نویسنده

  • Kathy Liddell
چکیده

Life insurers have used medical information, particularly family histories, for underwriting purposes for more than a century. The practice of using genetic test information began in earnest in the 1990s when DNA diagnostic tests became a more common part of medical records.* 1 Since then, the equity of this practice has been a pressing matter of public policy. Recent research has documented a number of instances where individuals have been denied life, disability and travel insurance in Australia,2 as well as in the United States ( ‘US’)3 and United Kingdom (‘UK’),4 due to genetic test results. Considerable media coverage of this research fuelled agitation about the emergence of a ‘genetic underclass’. Partly as a result, the Australian government is considering the need for legislation to prohibit underwriters using genetic tests in this discriminatory way. The Australian Law Reform Commission ( ‘ALRC’) and the Australian Health

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • The University of New South Wales law journal

دوره 25 1  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2002