KEY POINTS
- Health care providers in Canada across all specialties are increasingly able to order industry-sponsored genetic testing at no cost to their patients or to the health care system, which seems like a solution to prevailing inequities in access to testing but comes with several important ethical, legal, and health care system–related considerations that must be addressed.
- Most sponsored tests offered to people in Canada are performed in American laboratories, with the majority offering gene panel tests.
- Whereas many of Canada’s provinces have centralized laboratories or programs that ensure the quality and appropriateness of any publicly funded genetic testing, including those sent internationally, sponsored genetic testing may not be subject to similarly rigorous quality assurance.
- Despite benefits to patients in terms of simplifying access, broadening testing options, and potentially advancing research into genetic diseases, privacy risks related to data sharing and other downstream harms and costs require careful attention.
- The Canadian College of Medical Genetics and Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors recently published a position statement to outline key considerations; now is the time for health care jurisdictions to consider this important issue and to support the development of comprehensive guidance to help practitioners navigate this next generation of genetic testing and data sharing.
Learn more here on Free genetic testing is not free of clinical and ethical considerations via CMAJ.
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