Your records, electronic and hard-copy, will be maintained under a strict policy of confidentiality. Our laboratory will not release any patient records or details pertaining to services provided to any patients with any person outside the Laboratory, including insurance companies, unless expressly authorized by the patient through their practitioner.

In Portugal, we follow the guidelines of the "Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados".

All our tests required a signed consent form from the patient available in each test kit.

We also follow the legal framework of genetic testing outlined by the Counsel of Europe: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, Oviedo, 04 VI 1997. In particular Art 12 states that:" Tests which are predictive of genetic diseases or which serve to identify the subject as a carrier of a gene responsible for a disease or to detect a genetic predisposition or susceptibility to a disease may be performed only for health purposes or for scientific research linked to health purposes, and subject to appropriate genetic counseling". In this manner most of our tests require a prescription from a health practitioner.

In every new paradigm shift in medicine, ethical issues arise, as they should. Genomic testing is no exception. Ethical concerns are likely to vary depending on the type of genetic testing performed. A distinction should be made between diagnostic and predictive genomics.

In diagnostic genomics, the signs and symptoms of an individual are due to the presence of a (usually Mendelian) genetic condition. By definition, symptoms are already present; the genetic testing is an attempt to explain the condition. This is true of someone with refractory high cholesterol levels as well as someone with who has symptoms consistent with cystic fibrosis.

In predictive genomics, there may be no clearly definable symptoms or syndrome since testing may be utilized to predict the risk of developing some future condition. Effective therapeutics may be available and primary and secondary preventative strategies may be attempted. Precision in predictive genomics depends on numerous factors: the penetrance of the mutation, polygenic synergy, and environmental co-factors that affect gene expression.

The current general consensus is that every individual has the right to seek genetic information. That right must remain inviolate. However, the person seeking genetic information should be encouraged to share and discuss the information acquired with other family members, since their risk may also be affected.

It is the duty of the practitioner to inform each patient of the risks and benefits associated with genetic testing. The practitioner should present the pros and cons as objectively as possible without trying to sway the patient. Such objectivity is known as non-directive counseling. A general concern for the patient may be: "Does the stress of knowing he or she has a genetic anomaly outweigh the benefits of knowing?"

Fortunately, in functional genomic testing, practical intervention strategies are available and genetic diagnosis will likely do far more to relieve stress rather than to increase it. Furthermore, phenotypic or physiologic progress may be monitored using functional laboratory testing. GenoSolutions'™ predictive genomic diagnostics may be the first step towards comprehensive risk reduction or comprehensive treatment strategy.