DAUK’s GP committee says it is ‘sceptical’ about plans for newborn babies in England to be DNA tested to screen for diseases.
Dr Steve Taylor, DAUK GP spokesperson, told national radio listeners it ‘could open a can of worms’.
Speaking on LBC, Dr Taylor said: “Our DNA is only part of our story.
“There are other factors that play out in our lives that make a difference to the way things turn out.
DNA test
“You can die, potentially, at 10 with a ‘perfect DNA’ or you could live well into your old age without.
“There are conditions where clearly knowledge is useful, but I am concerned about this concept of all babies being tested rather than an opt-in, targeted approach, which isn’t available at the moment anyway.
“We haven’t got a targeted approach for those conditions with family history. That would make a massive difference.”
Dr Taylor said consent was also an issue.
“Knowing things about your life going forward is helpful,” he said.
Diagnosis
“But if you’ve been given a potential diagnosis of something that will kill you by the time you’re 20, do you want to know that so early?”
He added: “There’s the area around paternity and grandpaternity.
“You might suddenly find you’re not part of the family you thought you were.”
Dr Taylor was commenting on a report in the Telegraph that within the next decade, every newborn baby will undergo whole genome sequencing.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said it would move the NHS ‘from a service which diagnoses and treats ill health, to one that predicts and prevents it’.
Health anxiety
Dr Taylor said such a move would add to already increasing health anxiety.
“Dealing with patients worrying about the future is one of the biggest things I deal with,” he said.
“Patient anxiety, with increasing knowledge and data, is a huge problem.
“It’s bad enough with smart watches, and things, let alone having a DNA profile.”
Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP committee member, posted her reaction on the social media platform X.
Genetic conditions
She said: “While there is a small cohort who will benefit from early diagnosis of rare genetic conditions where interventions are available.
“There will be many who will feel they’ve been handed a death sentence when there is no clear course of action for them.
“The benefits are nuanced.”
Fellow GP committee member, Dr Alison George, also posted on X.
Dr George said there were ‘significant issues surrounding consent’.
She said patients would rather money was invested in ‘a properly functioning health service’.
They would rather see a GP promptly, have A&E waiting times of one to two hours, and that doctors were not replaced by physician associates.
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