Regulating Genetic Testing in Europe

From Genomeweb Daily News: European Genetics Group Offers Draft of Genetic Testing Oversight

The European Society of Human Genetics has issued a draft version of proposed recommendations for regulating and managing genetic testing and will be accepting public comments about its proposals until the beginning of July.

While some of the expectations raised by the arrival of the genomics era have yet to be realized, new studies about genes and their interaction with the environment offer promise for medicine, ESHG said.

The proposals were developed over three meetings over the past two years by ESHG's Public and Professional Policy Committee, by the EU-funded Network of Excellence Eurogentest, and by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies.

Currently in Europe the regulatory framework does not cover an independent evaluation for genetic tests before they are marketed, and the general public has access to genetic susceptibility tests that are offered on the internet, according to ESHG. The society also is responding to varying definitions for genetic susceptibility testing and screening, and to new discoveries of genetic variants....

Here's the website for the European Society of Human Genetics.