Tests for Cjd Will Put Doctors in Moral Minefield Health: Diagnosis Dilemma Health: Diagnosis Dilemma Ahead of International Conference, Expert Raises Concerns Over Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Detection of Incurable Disease . . . And Questions Tests' Practicality

Sunday Herald › March 20, 2006

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Summary

DOCTORS are likely to face a major ethical dilemma over the introduction of tests for variant CJD which could become available within a few years, a leading expert has warned.

Scientists are racing to find a reliable methods to diagnose vCJD at an early stage as the disease can currently only be confirmed through post-mortem examinations of victims' brains.

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Extract

Tests for Cjd Will Put Doctors in Moral Minefield Health: Diagnosis Dilemma Health: Diagnosis Dilemma Ahead of International Conference, Expert Raises Concerns Over Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Detection of Incurable Disease . . . And Questions Tests' Practicality

But speaking ahead of a major international conference on CJD, Dr Richard Knight, director of the National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, warned of "very difficult moral problems" as to how any test would be used in practice.

Among the concerns he raised was the dilemma of telling an apparently healthy person they are infected with vCJD, which can have a incubation period of...

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