Down’s blood test approved despite doctors’ backlash
MINISTERS have given the goahead for a new Down’s syndrome test despite ethical concerns from almost 300 medics.
The Government said yesterday that the non-invasive test is safer than those currently available and will help women ‘make informed choices about their pregnancies’.
But campaigners fear it could lead to more terminations – causing a generation with Down’s syndrome to be ‘wiped out’.
Doctors expressed concern after it was suggested ‘cost-effectiveness’ of supporting those with Down’s should be a consideration in whether to roll out the test.
At present, all pregnant women in England are offered a combined blood and ultrasound test in the first three months of pregnancy to check for abnormalities.
Those who show a high chance of genetic conditions are then offered an invasive test. This often involves taking a sample from the womb which carries a 1 per cent chance of miscarriage and around a one in 1,000 risk of serious infection. But the new non-invasive prenatal
A chilling medical test that I fear will make humanity so much the poorer
Daily Mail, October 3
test (NIPT) is a more accurate blood test and means far fewer women will need the more dangerous procedure.
The Department of Health’s approval of the NIPT – recommended by the UK National Screening Committee – means women will be able to choose it within the next three years.
But it follows a controversial consultation in which the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggested ‘cost- effectiveness’ of caring for people with Down’s could be considered as a factor. It called for a ‘rigorous economic analysis’, including lifetime care costs.
At the weekend, 279 medical professionals signed a letter accusing the RCOG of ‘advocating that women with a prenatal diagnosis of Down’s syndrome should end their pregnancy’. They said: ‘We utterly reject the implicit premise that the value of a human being is based on their economic contribution to society.’
The signatories included Gwen Moulster, a Shropshire nurse, who said people with Down’s are ‘horrified that other people are making judgments about … whether they can give anything back to society, and the thought a decision like that could be made before somebody has even had a chance to live’.
Dr Helen McGarry, a GP in Newcastle, added: ‘ The statement unmasks what appears to be a terrible inbuilt prejudice towards people with disability. If anyone dared to tell you your child’s genetic make-up made the economic analysis of their lifetime unfavourable, would you not consider them heartless, arrogant, inhumane?’
The medics are supported by parents of children with Down’s, including Bridget Jones’ Diary actress Sally Phillips, who said: ‘The suggestion that we compare the lifetime cost to the NHS of any individual with the cost of a prenatal screen struck me as either particularly thoughtless or dark.’
Government approval of NIPT follows a ten-month Don’t Screen Us Out campaign. A letter signed by 900 people with Down’s syndrome and their families was delivered to Jeremy Hunt this month demanding that approval be delayed until after a proper consultation.
Lynn Murray, of Don’t Screen Us Out, said: ‘We are very disappointed that the Department of Health have approved the NIPT roll-out without consultation with the very group that this is going to have the biggest impact on, people with Down’s syndrome and their families.’
Disabled Tory peer Lord Shinkwin said: ‘I am saddened by the way this decision was taken. Ministers could have met with people with Down’s syndrome and their families … instead [they] signalled to disabled people once again that they would be better off dead.’
The Government said the test could result in a fall in the number of women undergoing invasive testing each year with an estimated reduction from 7,900 to 1,400.
This means there could be a reduc- tion in the number of miscarriages related to the invasive diagnostic test – from 46 to approximately 3 a year. The new test will be offered to the 10,000 women a year who are at a higher risk of having an affected baby. All pregnant women will have the preliminary screening.
Health minister Philip Dunne said: ‘By offering non-invasive prenatal testing, fewer pregnant women will go on to be offered diagnostic testing which carries a risk of miscarriage.’
Dr Anne Mackie, of the UK National Screening Committee, said: ‘We will closely manage the roll out of non-invasive prenatal testing to give us a better understanding of the impact it has on the decisions women and their partners make following their test results.’
The RCOG has said the tests allowed parents to make ‘ an informed choice’.