Toews Maeghan, Caulfield Timothy
Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB.
Health Law Institute, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB; School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB.
J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2014 Oct;36(10):907-914. doi: 10.1016/S1701-2163(15)30441-2.
Although non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) marks a notable development in the field of prenatal genetic testing, there are some physician liability considerations raised by this technology. As NIPT is still emerging as the standard of care and is just starting to receive provincial funding, the question arises of whether physicians are obligated to disclose the availability of NIPT to eligible patients as part of the physician-patient discussion about prenatal screening and diagnosis. If NIPT is discussed with patients, it is important to disclose the limitations of this technology with respect to its accuracy and the number of disorders that it can detect when compared with invasive diagnostic options. A failure to sufficiently disclose these limitations could leave patients with false assurances about the health of their fetuses and could raise informed consent and liability issues, particularly if a child is born with a disability as a result.
尽管无创产前检测（NIPT）标志着产前基因检测领域的一项显著进展，但这项技术引发了一些医生责任方面的考量。由于NIPT仍在成为护理标准的过程中，且刚刚开始获得省级资金支持，因此出现了一个问题，即医生是否有义务在医患关于产前筛查和诊断的讨论中，向符合条件的患者披露NIPT的可用性。如果与患者讨论了NIPT，重要的是要披露该技术在准确性方面的局限性，以及与侵入性诊断选项相比它能够检测的疾病数量。未能充分披露这些局限性可能会让患者对其胎儿的健康产生错误的安心感，并可能引发知情同意和责任问题，特别是如果孩子出生时患有残疾的话。
