Mark Barnes Analyzes Liability Implications in Clinical Care in Move From Genetics to Genomics

In The News
May 4, 2020
Attorneys:

Health care and life sciences partner Mark Barnes (Boston) co-authored an article published in The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics that examines the potential liability facing clinicians, laboratories and health care institutions regarding genomic testing.

The comprehensive article begins in Part I by elaborating on the current transition from genetics to the genomics. Part II then explores what this transition means for the responsibilities of the various actors in the clinical ecosystem, including clinicians (both generalists and genetic specialists), testing labs, and health care systems and institutions. Part III discusses the role and challenges the liability system will experience in dealing with a rapidly evolving medical field such as clinical genomics. Part IV describes eleven types of medical liability that are likely to be expanded, modified, or created by clinical genomics. For each of these eleven types of liability claims, the authors provide specific recommendations for health care professionals and institutions and for legal professionals and the legal system to manage these liability risks.