Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future blogs about a new "inquiry into personalised medicine" started by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a British think tank. "Such inquiries seem to be popping up like mushrooms these days - for instance, the UK House of Lords has an inquiry into Genomic Medicine that I gather is due to report at some point in the next few weeks," he writes.
MacArthur says the "comparatively socialist" British healthcare system is likely a large factor in this trend. "Discussion of personalised medicine creates a particular tension here on top of the usual fears about genohype: if patients reeling from the results of a genome scan end up chewing through unnecessary extra medical appointments, the taxpayer will foot the bill, and an already highly strained public system will have to cope with an additional load," MacArthur blogs.