Genetic Discrimination In Insurance Industry
RTos 11.12.98 06:37
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LONDON (Reuters) - Britons from families with a history of
genetic disorders are not getting a fair deal from insurance
companies, researchers said Friday.
In Britain's first study on genetic information in life
insurance, they found inconsistent policies but said any bias
based on genetic information was probably due to error or
ignorance and not a corporate policy of discrimination.
Dr Tom Wilkie, the head of bioethics at the Wellcome Trust
medical research charity, said the study showed that genetic
information is liable to be misunderstood.
"Life insurers may not be operating a consistent policy for
assessing genetic information or acting in accord with the
actuarial risks brought to them," Wilkie and his colleagues
said in the study published in the British Medical Journal.
The study of 7,000 members of seven British support groups for
families with genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and
muscular dystrophy found that one third had problems getting life
insurance. Up to 13 percent of these cases had no risk on genetic
grounds.
"There seems to have been unjustified genetic discrimination
by insurers in the United Kingdom," the researchers said,
adding that it was difficult to obtain data on the extent of
genetic discrimination.
But Wilkie noted that the Association of British Insurers had
already taken steps to increase the industry's understanding of
genetics by appointing a clinical geneticist as its adviser.
A spokesman for the association, commenting on the study, denied
there was any discrimination on genetic grounds.
"We've made a lot of effort to make sure the reverse is
true," Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the association,
told Reuters.