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The Ethics of Reproductive Genetics pp 189–204Cite as

Chapter 13 Geneticization and Bioethics: Ethical Dilemmas in Genetic Counselling

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Part of the book series: Philosophy and Medicine ((PHME,volume 128))

Abstract

The twentieth century witnessed the emergence of a new paradigm in science: genetic determinism, which permeates present-day science, ethics and culture. Concurrently, the rapid growth in genetic knowledge generates many concerns related to the ethical and social consequences of the development of biotechnology. It is, in fact, suggested that it leads to the geneticization of bioethics. Hence, the objective of this text is to present the major dilemmas that accompany the development of genetics in the context of medical and reproductive ethics. Starting with the matter of human dignity, we discuss the basic principles of ethics and medical law: the principles of non-maleficence, beneficence and justice, with particular emphasis on an individual’s autonomy and the right to happiness, as well as the functioning of the partnership model seen as a metaphor for friendship or alliance. The exemplification of the presented dilemmas is an attempt to reconstruct the arguments used in the current discussion on the right to genetic ignorance. Whilst some researchers consider this right the guarantee of the individual right to privacy and autonomy, others have argued that, in the context of genetic risk, it contradicts other people’s right to knowledge, which leads to various problems and concerns of ethical, psychological, social and legal nature.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One of the main documents which refers to this right in Poland is the Professions of Doctors and Dentists Act from 1996, which in Art. 31.4 states: “In special situations, when prognosis is unfavourable for a patient, a physician may withhold information about the patient’s health and prognosis if, according to the doctor’s evaluation, this is in the patient’s best interest” (Ustawa o zawodach lekarza i lekarza dentysty 1996). The right is also mentioned in Art. 17 of the Polish Code of Medical Ethics: “[I]nformation about diagnosis and poor prognosis may be withheld from the patient only when a physician is deeply convinced, that its disclosure will cause the patient’s serious suffering or other unfavourable health effects” (Naczelna Izba Lekarska 2004).

  2. 2.

    This right was first formulated in 1981, in Article 7d of the Declaration of Lisbon on the Rights of the Patient where it states: “The patient has the right not to be informed on his/her explicit request, unless required for the protection of another person’s life”. Currently, the right is founded in the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine of 1997 (Art. 8.2), and confirmed by several international documents, including the UNESCO Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights of 1997 (Art. 5c) and the World Health Organization Review of Ethical Issues in Medical Genetics of 2003 (Art. 8.2) (Andorno 2004). In Polish legislation, the right is guaranteed in the Act of 2008 on Patients’ Rights and Patients’ Rights Ombudsman (Art. 9.4), the Act of 1996 on the Professions of Doctors and Dentists (Art. 31.3.) and the Code of Medical Ethics of 1991 (Art. 16.1.) (Kapelańska-Pręgowska 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland

    Ewa Baum & Jan Domaradzki

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  1. Ewa Baum
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Correspondence to Ewa Baum .

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  1. Department of Philosophy of Law and Legal Ethics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

    Marta Soniewicka

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Baum, E., Domaradzki, J. (2018). Chapter 13 Geneticization and Bioethics: Ethical Dilemmas in Genetic Counselling. In: Soniewicka, M. (eds) The Ethics of Reproductive Genetics. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 128. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60684-2_13

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