The success of personalised medicine depends upon the public’s embracing genetic tests. Tests that claim to predict an individual’s future health can now be accessed via online companies outside of conventional health regulations. This research assessed the extent to which the public embrace direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests relative to those obtained by a conventional medical practitioner (MP). It also examined the reasons for differences across providers using a randomised experimental telephone survey of 1000 Australians. Results suggest that people were significantly less likely to approve of, and order a DTC genetic test administered by a company compared to a MP because they were less trusting of companies’ being able to protect their privacy and provide them with access to genetic expertise and counselling. Markets for DTC genetic tests provided by companies would therefore significantly increase if trust in privacy protection and access to expertise are enhanced through regulation.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Law and Legal Studies
Research Group:	Law in context
Research Field:	Medical and health law
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Justice and the law
Objective Field:	Law reform
UTAS Author:	Critchley, CR (Associate Professor Christine Critchley)
UTAS Author:	Nicol, D (Professor Dianne Nicol)
UTAS Author:	Otlowski, MFA (Professor Margaret Otlowski)
UTAS Author:	Chalmers, DRC (Professor Don Chalmers)
ID Code:	91777
Year Published:	2015 (online first 2014)
Web of Science® Times Cited:	20
Deposited By:	Faculty of Law
Deposited On:	2014-05-29
Last Modified:	2017-06-22
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