A cluster of reports in the second half of 2009 highlighted the importance of incorporating genetic developments into mainstream medicine, and recommended that the ethicolegal implications of so doing are carefully explored. A genetic test in one person can reveal information about risk of disease for relatives and can therefore have important implications for their medical management. The successful and appropriate incorporation of genetics into mainstream medicine depends on clarifying the role and scope of confidentiality in the use of genetics. Interestingly, the General Medical Council's new confidentialityguidelines forthe first time make specific mention of the possibility of breaching a patient's confidentiality to share genetic information with relatives.1 While re-emphasising the public interest in high standards of confidentiality, the guidelines suggest this interest might sometimes be outweighed by a competing public interest in the avoidance of serious harm to relatives.
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