Ethical solicitude in medical genetics as perceived from a genetic counselor's perspective in the tribal-based community of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: The genetics domain is witnessing great advances in diagnosing and predicting genetic diseases. In a clinical setting, autosomal recessive genetic disorders are frequently observed as a result of the high rate of consanguinity. The advances in genomic technologies and methods in recent years have facilitated new tools for gene discovery in humans. There is a debate over the ethical dilemmas and challenges behind providing families with the genetic test results and incidental findings. Thus, this vast source of information can have a multitude of ethical, social, legal, and political implications. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to study how families of affected children respond when they receive incidental findings. Also, we aimed to identify how healthcare professionals descriptively abide by their role and the information-sharing procedures. Methods: This study was a qualitative study conducted at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh. It included a total of 14 participants and a total of 14 healthcare providers. Results and conclusion: Six strong themes emerged in this study. This study explored the experiences of parents of children affected with genetic diseases and the experiences of healthcare providers attending these families; their observations and the ethical challenges they faced during their practice. [JBCGenetics 2021; 4(2.000): 100-111]

Keywords

• genetic results
• ethical issues
• genetic counseling
• incidental findings
• whole exome sequencing