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Chapitre 8: La responsabilité civile des conseillers en génétique
... This increasing autonomy may create the potential for risks of public harm, given that genetic counseling is not a legally recognized profession in Quebec (Fox and Secord, 2016). Without legal recognition, anybody may practice genetic counseling or use the title of genetic counselor without having the proper skills and qualifications (Zawati, 2012;Zawati, 2018). Genetic counselors are increasingly performing complex tasks, such as interpreting complex genomic information and variants of uncertain significance (Shugar et al., 2017;Lambert et al., 2022). ...
... Under Quebec law, genetic counselors may, however, be considered service providers (Civil Code of Quebec, 2023, art. 2098Zawati, 2018). Consequently, under Quebec's civil liability rules, genetic counselors may be liable for any patient injuries caused by their acts or omissions (Zawati, 2018). ...
... 2098Zawati, 2018). Consequently, under Quebec's civil liability rules, genetic counselors may be liable for any patient injuries caused by their acts or omissions (Zawati, 2018). While this offers some form of legal recourse in the event of patient harm, it is a reactionary measure. ...
Genetic counseling is a fast-growing profession worldwide, with genetic counselors taking on increasingly comprehensive and autonomous roles in the healthcare sector. However, the absence of appropriate legal frameworks could potentially create risks of harm to the public. Legal recognition serves to protect the public from risk of harm by regulating the safe and competent practice of healthcare professionals. Genetic counseling is not legally recognized in most world jurisdictions. Examination of the legal status of genetic counseling in different jurisdictions and whether existing legal mechanisms are adequate to address potential risks of harm is therefore timely. This paper examines the different roles of genetic counselors in the Canadian province of Quebec and the state of Qatar, the authors’ respective jurisdictions. It considers the types of harms that may be created where appropriate legal mechanisms are lacking, considering the socio-political and legal differences between the two jurisdictions. Moreover, it examines the legal status of genetic counseling in Quebec and Qatar to determine whether these statuses appropriately address the identified risks of harm. The authors argue that existing legal frameworks are inadequate to address these risks and recommend that additional regulatory mechanisms be implemented to properly protect the public from risks of harm.
... Genetic counsellors are not part of a professional order in Canada and their profession is not regulated (Patrinos & al., 2020). For this reason and because they play a different role in the healthcare system than that of a clinical geneticist, their liability standard is likely different (Zawati, 2014). In the remainder of this paper, we will focus only on clinical geneticists. ...
The availability of precision medicine tools and approaches has increased considerably over the past decades, propelled by rapid scientific advances in genomics and the popularity of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Genetic specialists working within public healthcare systems are struggling to meet the growing demand for clinical genetic services. Some experts have suggested that doctors who are not specialized in genetics could take on some of the tasks performed by genetic specialists since they are regularly the first point of contact for people with a genetic predisposition to cancer. However, expanding doctors’ roles may heighten their standard of practice and concomitant medical liability risk to that of genetic specialists. This paper reviews the medical liability regime applicable to this situation through the lens of Canada’s unique bijural legal system. We then compare the state of the law in Canada to that of the United States. According to our findings, unless there is an improvement in the quality of genetic services provided by general practitioners, we could see a growing number of successful liability suits in clinical genetics and precision medicine in the coming years . To prevent this unsatisfactory outcome, additional professional training in core genetic tasks should be made increasingly available to general practitioners and the creation of communities of practice in genetics encouraged. Furthermore, courses introducing medical students to genetics, including its ethical and legal challenges, should be made available and actively promoted within medical curricula.
... Despite such expansion of practice beyond the tertiary genetics clinic, access to genetic counseling services remains largely limited. Alongside the evolving scope of the profession, the need for regulation of the practice of genetic counseling has been highlighted to assure safe practice (Shugar et al., 2017) and there have been several calls in the literature for legal recognition in Canada (Shugar et al., 2017;Zawati, 2012Zawati, , 2018. ...
Genetic counseling is a fast-growing profession in Canada. Yet, despite its growth, genetic counseling lacks legal recognition in the majority of Canadian provinces. Legal recognition serves to regulate professions, including genetic counseling, that if not properly regulated, expose the public to the risk of harm. Under Canadian law, there are three models of legal recognition: 1) the constitution of a professional order, 2) inclusion in a professional order, and 3) delegation. This paper explores the practical implications of these different models of legal recognition for genetic counselors. It focuses on the balancing act between protecting the public and the resources required to seek legal recognition under the three different models. With a small number of genetic counselors (n = 484, with 89% found in 4 provinces) compared to other professions, the route toward professional regulation for genetic counselors can be challenging. Though legal recognition occurs at the provincial rather than federal level in Canada, we nonetheless advocate for pan-Canadian discussions that may benefit future pursuits of legal recognition.
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