genetic test

Fear of insurance rejection deters potentially life saving genetic tests for bowel cancer

7 Sep 2009, 2.29 PM
Fear of insurance rejection deters potentially life saving genetic tests for bowel cancer

An Australian study of families with genetic risk of bowel cancer has found that 50 percent of participants declined genetic testing when informed of insurance implications.

“This indicates that people have a significant fear of insurance discrimination which impacts their decision to have potentially life saving genetic testing,” says co-lead author Dr Louise Keogh, of the University of Melbourne’s Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society.