PRACTICAL GENETICS
WHAT TO CONSIDER : DIRECT TO CONSUMER GENETIC TESTING
AUTHORS Tom James , MD & Matt Fickie , MD
Over the last several years , physicians have been excited about the role of personalized medicine to aid in diagnosis and more tailored approaches to treatment . We have considered these tools really to be in the realm of medical professionals . But like many other tests , including pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests , that were initially within the purview of physicians for informed interpretation before going public , genetic testing has moved into the public sphere . People are anxious to understand not only their ancestry , but also their potential for genetic disease .
Physicians in primary care fields and certain specialties should be able to counsel their patients before and after obtaining direct-to-consumer ( DTC ) genetic tests . Doctors are already counseling their patients who have consulted “ Dr . Google .” Many of us were initially insulted by the time-consuming assault from patients bringing sheaves of internet reprints to our exam rooms . We learned to co-opt that curiosity by directing our patients to credible sources on the internet . We even learned how to harness that patient energy to enhance compliance - if the internet and my physician said to do something , then I must follow through !
The same skills are important for successfully managing patients who come to the physician before or after subscribing to one of the DTC genetic testing companies . We must understand what exactly is being offered by these firms , how accurate their tests are , and how they support their customer with appropriate counseling . Beyond that are the ethics and privacy concerns with the provision of personal genetic data .
6 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE