In reply: We thank Liley et al1 and McLean and Wu2 for their interest in our article.3 We agree that other areas of medicine share similar ethical challenges to those we outlined about non‐invasive prenatal test (NIPT) and non‐invasive prenatal screen (NIPS) regarding consent. However, we believe that the clinical utility and ethical challenges of genetic testing in the prenatal context are different to the paediatric and adult patients, where pathology exists or where screening is done for a specific pathology.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Liley HG, Peek MJ, Daly J. Non‐invasive prenatal testing: clinical utility and ethical concerns about recent advances [letter]. Med J Aust 2021; 215: 000–000.
- 2. McLean A, Wu K. Non‐invasive prenatal testing: clinical utility and ethical concerns about recent advances [letter]. Med J Aust 2021; 215: 000–000.
- 3. Thomas J, Harraway J, Kirchhoffer D. Non‐invasive prenatal testing: clinical utility and ethical concerns about recent advances. Med J Aust 2021; 214: 168–170. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/214/4/non‐invasive‐prenatal‐testi\ng‐clinical‐utility‐and‐ethical‐concerns‐about‐recent
- 4. Joseph‐Williams N, Edwards A, Elwyn G. Power imbalance prevents shared decision making. BMJ 2014; 348: g3178.
- 5. Edvardsson K, Mogren I, Lalos A, et al. A routine tool with far‐reaching influence: Australian midwives; views on the use of ultrasound during pregnancy. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2015; 15: 1–11.
- 6. Ravitsky V. The shifting landscape of prenatal testing: Between reproductive autonomy and public health. Hastings Cent Rep 2017; 47 (Suppl): S34–S40.
- 7. Juengst ET, McGowan ML. Why does the shift from “personalized medicine” to “precision health”; and “wellness genomics” matter? AMA J Ethics 2018; 20: E881–E890.
- 8. Hayward J, Chitty LS. Beyond screening for chromosomal abnormalities: advances in non‐invasive diagnosis of single gene disorders and fetal exome sequencing. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med 2018; 23: 94–101.
No relevant disclosures.