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Addressing perceived economic obstacles to genetic testing as a way to mitigate disparities in family health history for adoptees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2018

Thomas May  and
James P. Evans
Thomas May*
Affiliation:
Floyd and Judy Rogers Endowed Professor, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA Ethics and Genomics Program, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL, USA Institute for Health and Aging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
James P. Evans
Affiliation:
Bryson Distinguished Professor of Genetics & Medicine, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
*
*Correspondence to: Thomas May, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 Salmon Creek Ave, Vancouver, WA98686, USA. Email: thomas.may@wsu.edu
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Abstract

In this paper, we ask whether or not we can afford to realize the potential benefits of genetic testing as a screening tool for adoptees. Our method is to provide reasonable cost and savings estimates. We argue that the prospect of cost neutrality should be sufficient to explore the targeted screening for a population who will otherwise suffer an avoidable health disparity in access to inherited disease information. Our goal here is to establish that the investment needed to attain these benefits is not beyond our means.

Keywords

economicsgenetic screeninggenetic testinghealth disparitiesethics
Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 277 - 287
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

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