Genetic information

OXFORD - British ministers unveiled proposals to regulate how insurance companies can use information from genetic testing. In response to a Human Genetics Advisory Commission report (see BioCentury, Dec. 22, 1997), the government recommends that ministers should work with the insurance industry and the HGAC to establish an independent evaluation system. All types of genetic tests would have to be validated by the system before their results could be taken into account by the insurance industry.

The validation procedure, which is expected to be in place early next year, would assess whether there is scientific and actuarial evidence that the result of a genetic test provides a sound and accurate basis on which insurance companies can make decisions about people's insurability...