Communication of genetic information within families: the case for familial comity

Advancements in genomic technologies have raised a multitude of ethical issues, some of which have raised novel dilemmas for medical practice. Many of these issues have concerned the disclosure of genetic information, and the circumstances in which it may be appropriate for health professionals to disclose particularly important genetic health information to genetic relatives without the consent of their patient. Although much has been written discussing the ethical issues involved in this dilemma, there have been few suggestions for considering the issue through different or complimentary ethical principles to those already used. This paper builds upon suggestions that genetic information may be viewed as collective or shared information to propose the principle of ‘familial comity’ as being a relevant perspective through which this topical ethical dilemma may be considered.