New Findings from University of Tokyo in the Area of Human Genetics Reported (Japanese insurers’ attitudes toward adverse selection and genetic discrimination: a questionnaire survey and interviews with employees about using genetic test results)

2020 NOV 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Genetics - Human Genetics. According to news reporting from Tokyo, Japan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Since the 1990s, insurance has been the primary field focused on the social disadvantages of using genetic test results because of the concerns related to adverse selection. Although life insurance is popular in Japan, Japan does not currently have any regulations on the use of genetic information and insurers have largely kept silent for decades.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the University of Tokyo, “To reveal insurers’ attitudes on the topic, we conducted an anonymous questionnaire survey with 100 insurance company employees and recruited nine interviewees from the survey respondents. We found that genetic discrimination is not generally considered as a topic of human rights. We also found that insurers have uncertain fears and concerns about adverse selection in terms of actuarial fairness but not regarding profits.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “When it comes to preparing guidelines on the use of genetic information by Japanese insurers, we believe that public dialog and consultation are necessary to gain understanding of the people.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Japanese insurers’ attitudes toward adverse selection and genetic discrimination: a questionnaire survey and interviews with employees about using genetic test results. Journal of Human Genetics, 2020. Journal of Human Genetics can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Nature Publishing Group - http://www.nature.com/; Journal of Human Genetics - http://www.nature.com/jhg/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Hiroshi Iida, Dept. of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1038/s10038-020-00873-y. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of Human Genetics is: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA.

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