Pattern Recognition Software Enables MS Blood Test

ProteomicsWizard writes "Using proteomic spectral pattern recognition software, scientists have described a way to diagnose Multiple Sclerosis from a blood sample. The technology is applicable to other diseases including various cancers. With the technology available for identifying uncureable diseases before they manifest themselves, would you want to know?"

Comments

Adverse selection destroys the basis of insurance

[Engineer-Poet]

I would definitly want to know....

But...

I would want strict legislation preventing corporations/insurance providers/employers from getting the results of said tests.

Insurance is based on risk; when you buy insurance you are essentially placing a bet that you will have a claim and the insurance company is betting against you that you won't. The oddsmakers are the actuaries.

If you could find out with high certainty that you would or would not get a particular disease, you would only buy insurance for those risks which apply to you (or low-deductible insurance; high-deductible would do for low probabilities). But when everyone is doing this, the odds of anyone buying insurance NOT making a claim would sink toward zero. Either the cost of insurance rises toward the cost of treatment, or the insurance company goes broke. You either stop being able to get insurance or having any reason to buy what's available (if you needed it, you'd be better off paying out of pocket and skipping the middleman).