Genetic Fraud
Kids know best of all that faking illness not only gets them a day off school, but it gets them a whole lot of sympathy as well. When adults do the same, they’re after more than just sympathy.
Geneticists in the UK say that some women are falsely reporting a positive family history of breast cancer in order to get unnecessary medical treatment as extreme as double mastectomy. (BBC News, April 21, 2005). Not surprisingly, these women are suspected to have a psychological disorder similar to Munchausen’s Syndrome in which they have a pathological need for medical attention.
The geneticists at St Mary’s Hospital said a small number, around 1%, of women claiming the most serious family risk of breast cancer - where three of four relatives develop the disease when young - were inventing the history.
Women who do have this kind of family history sometimes opt for preventative treatment, which may include surgery to remove the breasts.
But experts warn that, if patient’s claims are not investigated, they may undergo unnecessary surgery, and cause fears among relatives that they may have a high risk of cancer.
When I posted earlier this week about home genetic tests and the risks of misinterpretation, I had no idea that some would take it in such an extreme and strange direction.
Pointer from Public Health Genetics Unit, Cambridge Genetics Knowledge Park.
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
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2 opinions for Genetic Fraud
river2sea72
Jun 2, 2005 at 8:53 pm
Oh my. Why would someone who doesn’t have a genetic history of breast cancer want to have a prophylactic double mastectomy? I’d say they should be having their heads examined….
Lei
Jun 2, 2005 at 11:12 pm
River2sea72 - You’d think they would like to have their heads examined! Yet more medical attention for them. I don’t know enough about Munchausen’s Syndrome, but it sounds to me that they like to get any kind of medical treatment except the psychiatric kind. :(
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