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Legal aspects of genetic information.
1Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago, Illinois.
The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine
|January 1, 1991
Summary
The Human Genome Initiative offers insights into genetic status, raising legal questions about information access. Laws protect individuals' rights to access, control, and refuse their genetic information.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Bioethics
- Legal Medicine
Background:
- The Human Genome Initiative is advancing genetic information capabilities.
- This progress introduces complex legal and ethical considerations regarding genetic data access and control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze existing statutes and case law concerning genetic information.
- To address key questions on entitlement to genetic information, individual control over it, and the right to refuse it.
Main Methods:
- Review of current legal statutes.
- Analysis of relevant case law.
- Discussion of pivotal legal questions regarding genetic information rights.
Main Results:
- Existing laws address patient rights concerning their genetic information.
- Individuals have rights regarding access to and control over their genetic data.
- The law supports an individual's right to refuse genetic information.
Conclusions:
- Legal frameworks are evolving to protect individual rights in the context of genetic information.
- Patients possess rights to obtain, control, and refuse genetic information.
- The law safeguards an individual's autonomy over their genetic data and its dissemination.