Patient with severe cognitive impairment (SCI) should not be denied organ transplants. Should Researchers Share Genomic Results With Participant’s Relatives?

Patients with severe cognitive impairment (SCI) should not be denied organ transplants, as long as the patient has provided informed consent and is medically eligible for transplantation. If the patient is unable to make decisions about their own care due to a SCI, then a guardian or healthcare proxy should provide informed consent on their behalf.

Regarding researchers sharing genomic results with participant’s relatives, this can be a difficult situation since it may raise both ethical and legal concerns. On one hand, there is the potential benefit of providing family members valuable information that could help them make better healthcare decisions in the future; however, confidentiality issues must also be taken into account so that patient privacy rights are respected at all times. Ultimately it would depend on what information is being shared and if these results could have direct implications for other family members. Therefore I believe additional research needs to take place before any definitive conclusions can be made whether or not researchers should share genomic results with participant’s relatives.