FAITH IN A FALSE GOD

Genetic test blunders risk needless abortions (David Concar, 30 April 03, New Scientist)

Many pregnant women in the US have had risky and unnecessary fetal tests following genetic screening of themselves and their partners. And some may have terminated healthy pregnancies after muddles or irregularities in genetic tests on their fetuses.

This is the warning being issued by medical geneticists who have assessed the outcomes of some of the tens of thousands of DNA tests carried out every month in the US as part of the world's largest screening programme for cystic fibrosis.

Some of the companies carrying out the tests blame doctors for misinterpreting complex results or requesting the wrong tests. But geneticists say a few companies are at fault too, for failing to stick to clinical guidelines.

And cystic fibrosis is just the first of many diseases for which genetic testing is likely to become routine. If mistakes are being made already, experts warn, what will happen as screening becomes more and more common? Government regulation of genetic testing in many countries is poor, they say.

The most interesting aspect of the story may actually be the headline, which implies that there are "needful" abortions. Personally, I think it possible to justify abortion where the child will be profoundly disabled, but CF doesn't seem to qualify. Suffice it to say, I pity any parent faced with the decision and have no idea what I'd do under the circumstance, and that's before taking into consideration the dubiosity of the science. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 2, 2003 7:41 PM