Researchers at McGill Genome Centre Zero in on Science (Still using genetic data? A comparative review of Canadian life insurance application forms before and after the GNDA): Science

2024 JAN 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on science. According to news reporting originating from Montreal, Canada, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Genetic testing’s increased availability has raised concerns about ‘genetic discrimination’ (GD), where individuals may face unfair treatment, particularly when purchasing personal insurance, because of their genetic characteristics.”

Our news reporters obtained a quote from the research from McGill Genome Centre: “In 2017, Canada passed the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GNDA) to prevent GD. This manuscript reviews post-GNDA life insurance application forms and compares them with pre-2014 application forms to assess the impact of the GNDA on insurance practices in Canada. Based on our comparative assessment, we found that the GNDA has had a modest impact on the practice of life insurers in Canada. Our study also confirms that questions about family history of disease and broadly formulated inquiries are still used on life insurance application forms.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Both can, in the absence of clear instructions, lead applicants to disclose protected genetic information.”

For more information on this research see: Still using genetic data? A comparative review of Canadian life insurance application forms before and after the GNDA. FACETS, 2024,9():1-10. (FACETS - http://www.facetsjournal.com/). The publisher for FACETS is Canadian Science Publishing.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2023-0101.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Amy Fernando, McGill Genome Centre, 740 Av. Docteur-Penfield, Montreal, QC H3A 0G1, Canada. Additional authors for this research include Emma Kondrup, Katherine Cheung, Diya Uberoi, Yann Joly.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)