Abstract
At present we stand at a way station of genetic knowledge about mental disorders. We have, or soon will have, presymptomatic and prenatal tests, but no treatments. The goal of research should be treatment. Meanwhile, we are left with diagnoses. “Way station technology” is not unique in the history of medicine; diagnoses without treatments characterized most medical practice before the twentieth century. What is unique in modern genetics is the capacity to diagnose disorders many years — perhaps almost a lifetime — before onset, without being able to prevent the inevitable. This situation poses difficult ethical problems, including the following:
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a)
should presymptomatic tests be offered in the absence of treatment, and if so, to whom?
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b)
should children be tested if parents request it?
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c)
should a fetus be tested if parents do not want to know their own genetic status?
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d)
should spouses, family members at genetic risk, employers, or insurers have access to test results?
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e)
who should have access to, or ownership of, DNA samples?
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Wertz, D.C. (1990). Ethical Issues in the Application of Knowledge from Molecular Genetics to Mental Disorders. In: Bulyzhenkov, V., Christen, Y., Prilipko, L. (eds) Genetic Approaches in the Prevention of Mental Disorders. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07421-3_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07421-3_11
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