U. Utah professor studies genetics' impact on ...
COMTEX Newswire
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb 07, 2001 (Daily Utah Chronicle, U-WIRE via COMTEX) -- With
genetic testing, scientists can peek into a person and ascertain his or her
chance of contracting diseases like cancer, heart disease or other genetic
afflictions. While this has the potential to benefit many, some are concerned
life insurance companies may use genetic information to discriminate against
those inclined to develop serious illnesses.
"Genetic testing is a relatively new area within medicine, and we don't know a
lot about the issues that are going to be raised as genetic testing becomes more
commonplace," said Dr. Cathleen Zick, chair of the family and consumer science
department at the University of Utah.
Zick authored a study about insurance-buying patterns and genetic testing. She
presented her results at a January National Institutes of Health conference in
January in Bethesda, Md.
Consumers are concerned life insurance companies might dismiss people or charge
them higher premiums if they have genetic dispositions to diseases like cancer
or heart disease, Zick said. On the other side of the issue, life insurance
companies are concerned about "adverse selection" on the part of clients.
Adverse selection results when genetic tests inform a person of impending
disease and causes him or her to invest more in life insurance so family members
can cash in when the person dies, Zick said.
Zick studied a group of women with a common ancestor, or a kindred, known to
have a predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. Generally, women have about
an 11 percent chance of developing breast cancer; but women in this kindred had
a risk of about 85 percent, Zick said.
The kindred, who lived in Utah and southern Idaho, was instrumental in helping
the University of Utah School of Medicine find the BRCA1 gene, one of the mutant
breast-cancer genes.
"The folks in this study were told they were in a high-risk family and were
invited to ... be tested for this gene mutation," Zick said. Researchers drew
blood from the kindred for sequencing and to determine if the members were
positive for the mutant BRCA1 gene.
Over the next two years, genetic counsellors followed-up with the study
participants and tracked their insurance-buying patterns.
As a control group, the study also sampled a random group of Utah women and
their insurance patterns.
Zick then analyzed the three groups -- the kindred members who tested positive,
those who tested negative, and the control group -- to determine how their
results affected their insurance buying patterns.
The study looked exclusively at life insurance, as people generally have more
control over that than they do health insurance.
Zick reported that genetic-testing status had no effect on insurance buying
patterns.
"(The study) suggests that the life insurers' fears about adverse selection may
be a bit overblown," Zick said. "Consumer concerns may not be well-founded
either, but that's not what we looked at."
Zick said the study had several shortcomings, since it examined a very
homogenous population of women and only one genetic mutation.
"(Finding breast cancer) is not as serious as finding out you've tested positive
for Huntington's Disease; (the latter is) a death sentence," Zick said. Future
studies would examine different ethnic groups, men and other diseases.
The study proved, however, that the women tested for the gene -- whether the
outcome was positive or negative -- were three times more likely to buy cancer
insurance supplemental to health insurance than were women not tested at all.
"Simply the process of going through testing sensitizes you to the risks of
cancer, even if you test negative," Zick said. "Cancer education ... may
motivate some (people) to go out and buy this type of particular insurance."
According to Zick, with the status of genetic testing still in its infancy,
dramatic changes could develop in the next few years.
"(The study) provided the first set of insights on consumer behavior in this
market," Zick said, noting that no other study of this kind has been done.
"Policymakers shouldn't rush to ensure that insurers don't have access to
(genetic) information."
Some life insurance companies already examine family history of cancer when
writing policies.
Knowledge of genetic testing could have serious repercussions on the life
insurance market. As genetic testing becomes more widespread, effects on the
market will become more of an issue, Zick said.
By Jared Whitley
http://www.utahchronicle.com
(c) 2001 Daily Utah Chronicle, U. Utah and U-WIRE
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KEYWORD: SALT LAKE CITY
SUBJECT CODE: News
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Science/Technology
Copyright 2001