Pharmacogenetics: Ethical Issues
External Consultation
Public Consultation
A public consultation was held between November 2002 and February 2003. During this time more than 70 responses were received from 15 countries. Respondents included academics, representatives from industry, general practitioners, members of Local Research Ethics Committees, patient groups and other professional organisations. The Working Party would like to thank everyone who contributed to the consultation. The replies contained interesting and useful views and information. The Working Party considered all of the responses.
Although the consultation is now closed, the consultation pack, which sets out some of the key issues, is available to download.
The consultation paper posed 20 questions, including:
- Will the applications of pharmacogenetics increase inequalities in the provision of healthcare?
- What are the implications of finding a genetic variant that influences the response to a medicine in a particular racial or ethnic group?
- Should a GP be responsible for providing a pharmacogenetic test or should tests be available directly to patients over the counter?
Fact Finding Meetings
- Dr Rashmi Shah, Medicines Control Agency
- Professor Alastair Bellingham, NHS Information Authority
- Professor David Goldstein, Wolfson Professor of Genetics, University College London
- Dr Virginia Warren, Assistant Medical Director, BUPA
- Dr Kevin Cheeseman, Director of Development Pharmacogenetics, AstraZeneca
- Dr Philip Wright, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
- Mr John Wilkinson, Partner and Joint Head of the Life Sciences Group, Bird and Bird
- Professor Jonathan Montgomery, Professor of Health Care Law, University of Southampton
Last Updated Mon, 30 July 2007