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international Conference on Health law
past and our future. I shall elaborate on
this aspect of the matter – what impact
does possessing this information can
have on our lives
In Poland, it is possible to make
simple genetic tests without any
interference from the state. Our legislature
has not yet taken any decisive
steps to control this activity. If it is
one’s wish, one can conduct an anonymous
genetic test of any sample you
submit. The results may never be admissible
in court, but be that as it may,
they can be used to devastating effect
on many occasions. During our Conference
we discussed its application in
private paternity tests and in insurance
sector.
With the widespread development
of private testing firms, the number
of conducted paternity test has
skyrocketed. But what it means for
an average family Depending on the
survey, from 5 to 30 percent of the
children are born out of the wedlock.
The guiding principle of the Family
Law has always been protection of
child’s welfare. Would every father care
for illegitimate child in the same way as
if it was his own How many families
would be split, unable to bear the constant
reminder of betrayal
There is also another situation, in
which information about our genetic
code can be used. If insurance
companies possessed that sensitive
data, they would be able to tell which
diseases we are susceptible to, what
kind of illness we could possibly have
in the future and… even our approximate
age of death. It would allow them
to prepare personalized profiles for all
of us, creating an insurance offer maximizing
their own possible profit, at the
expense of ours. The Supreme Court
of Poland has ruled that the genetic
analysis has to be made with consent
of the person, whose sample is being
analyzed. But without government’s
monitoring of this grey area, nothing
will change. It is possible that one day
we will become victims of our own
hope that this article
has “I
shown you how
interesting and diverse
different aspects of
Medical Law are.
shortsightedness, not regulating this
extremely sensitive branch of medicine
when we still had a chance.
I hope that this article has shown
you how interesting and diverse
different aspects of Medical Law
are. It is my belief, that our rights to
obtain, protect, and freely share information
concerning our health and genetic
make-up data will become more
significant in years to come. Even
in Information Age, let us not become
arrogant and be lured into false
sense of security. We should still
consider the wisdom of Horace’s
words.
Jakub Sekulski
Assistant for International Focus
Programme
ELSA Poznan
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24 IFPNewsletter