Personalized Medicine - Ethical Challenges

Personalized Medicines ensure providing the best treatment based on the patient's unique characteristics, has numerous and complex ethical challenges that will be covered in this chapter.

Genetic Discrimination

Genetic discrimination occurs when individuals are treated unfairly based on their genetic information.

• Social Stigma: Some people may be treated unfairly or judged by others because of their genetic information or health condition.
• Legal Protections: There are some laws to stop genetic discrimination, but how well people know about them and how they are enforced can be different.
• Employment Risks: There might be unfair treatment in hiring or promotions because of how employers view someone's health risks.
• Ethical Implications: This brings up worries about being fair, keeping personal information private, and making informed choices about health.

Informed Consent

• Patients may struggle to fully understand what genetic testing and personalized treatment mean.
• It's important to make sure they understand the risks and benefits.
• Clear communication is needed to help patients make informed choices.

Regulatory Frameworks

• We need clear rules and guidelines for personalized medicine. This is important to make sure it is used safely and effectively.
• Patients in trials or treatments may not have enough protection. This means they could be at risk without proper safety measures in place.
• There aren't enough systems in place to make sure treatments are safe and work well.
• Doctors might find it hard to make the right decisions because they don't have enough clear information.

Privacy and Data Protection

• People are worried about how their genetic information is collected and used.
• People are worried about how safely and securely their genetic information is stored.
• There is a chance that this sensitive information could be used wrongly or seen by people who shouldn't have access to it.
• Patients might not want to share their genetic information if they think it won't be kept secret.

Clinical Decision-Making

• People are unsure about how much genetic data should affect the decisions made for treatments.
• Genetic information can be misread, which might result in wrong conclusions.
• There is a chance that genetic information could be used wrongly when making medical choices.
• Patients should know how their genetic information will be used in their treatment.