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Genetic Testing and Sports Medicine Ethics

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Abstract

Sports medicine ethics is neither a well established branch of sports medicine nor of medical ethics. It is therefore important to raise to more general awareness some of the significant ethical implications of sports medicine practices. The field of genetics in sports is likewise in its infancy and raises significant ethical concerns. It is not yet clear how genetics will alter our understanding of human potential and performance in sports. While a number of professional medical bodies accept genetic interventions of a therapeutic nature, we argue that the use of genetic technologies to predict sports potential may well breach both the European bioethics convention and North American anti-discrimination legislation, which are designed to support important ethical ideals and the ongoing commitment of the physician to the welfare of their patient. We highlight further ethical problems associated with confidentiality and consent that may arise in genetic testing as opposed to more conventional methods of testing in sports medicine. We conclude that genetic testing in sport that is not strictly limited to the protection of the athlete against harm, should be viewed in a very sceptical light by sports medicine professionals.

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Acknowledgements

Dr Arno Müller’s research project ‘Sports, Ethics and Genomics’ at Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands, Department Health, Ethics and Society is funded by the Centre for Society and Genomics (CSG). The CSG is a centre of excellence of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, History and Law, School of Health Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK, SA2 8PP

    Michael John McNamee

  2. Department of Health, Ethics and Society, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands

    Arno Müller

  3. Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Ivo van Hilvoorde

  4. Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University Law Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, UK

    Søren Holm

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  1. Michael John McNamee
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  2. Arno Müller
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Correspondence to Michael John McNamee.

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McNamee, M.J., Müller, A., van Hilvoorde, I. et al. Genetic Testing and Sports Medicine Ethics. Sports Med 39, 339–344 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200939050-00001

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