Genetic Screening: The Ethics of Knowing

Abstract

The possibility of a safe and accurate test for the presymptomatic detection of Huntington's chorea as reported by Klawans et al. in this issue of the Journal may well spark another debate over the ethics of screening technics for incurable disease. Indeed, an earlier report of this research provoked just such a response. One reader argued¹ that "it is not unreasonable to withhold the use of a test of this sort until we have something tangible to offer those who give a positive result."It is a tribute to the success of medicine that the interest in the ethical and . . .