Predictive Genetic Testing: Congruence of Disability Insurers' Interests with the Public Interest

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (S2) ◽  
pp. 52-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Silvers

The idea that disability insurers would benefit if the use of predictive genetic testing expands may seem little short of obvious. If individuals with higher than species-typical genetic propensities for illness or disease are identified, and barred or discouraged from participating in disability insurance programs, is it not obvious that the amount that disability insurers pay out will decrease? Is there any reason to doubt that insurers thus would gain advantage by promoting genetic testing? Writers on this subject typically have taken on faith that advantage goes to whoever knows most about the genetic characteristics of the individual seeking insurance. They therefore have assumed, without proving, that insurers’ interests lie with proliferating genetic information about insurance seekers.Consequently, from a perspective that gives priority to commercial interests, denying insurers the freedom to obtain genetic information about insurance seekers or holders appears obviously damaging and even unfair. On the other hand, from a perspective that gives priority to the interests of citizens who may use insurance, the greater use of and access to predictive genetic testing sets off ethical alarms.

Prawo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 323 ◽  
pp. 211-221
Author(s):  
Konrad Kopystyński

Exclusion of the application provisions of freedom of economic activity act in the scope of concession for operating casino games and the protection of the public interestThis article presents the comparison between provisions of freedom of economic activity act and the law on gambling in scope of conditions related to revoking concession for operating casino games. To revoke that concession, only provisions of law on gambling can be applied because of provisions of freedom of economic activity act are excluded in that cases. That regulation allows the raising of freedom economic activity, but the other hand — also causes the limitation in the protec­tion of public interest.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Fioole

How much freedom from religion can a secular individual claim in a liberal democracy? How much freedom from religion is justified when considering religious individuals' liberties? By means of new realistic methods (Geuss), this study of political theory tries to give practical answers to these questions. In this book, we find that previous solutions generated by the public justification paradigm (Rawls, Audi, Habermas, Gaus, Cooke et al.) systematically result in a democratic trilemma. Instead, the individual sphere is proposed. This interplay between freedom, autonomy and privacy has an obligation to liberal institutional ethics. On the one hand, the theory of the individual sphere allows an individual to act according to his or her religious or secular ideas of what is good; on the other hand, it identifies contexts in which majority rule is justified.


Financial law ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 23-26
Author(s):  
Elena A. Tsvetkova ◽  

Protected legal interest is a legal category that allows to reflect all those interests that for one reason or another are not «covered» by subjective rights, but certainly have some importance for both society and the individual. It is convenient for the State, through such a tool as «protected legitimate interest», to take under its protection and protection those interests which, on the one hand, there is no need to translate into the rank of subjective rights, and on the other hand, when it is necessary for protection public interest, they gain a right and become the rights of the taxpayer.


Once the conviction has been set aside, there could be no public policy objection to an action for negligence against the legal advisers. There could be no conflict of judgments. On the other hand, in civil, including matrimonial, cases, it would seldom be possible to say that an action for negligence against a legal adviser or representative would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Whether the original decision was right or wrong was usually a matter of concern only to the parties and had no wider implications. There was no public interest objection to a subsequent finding that, but for the negligence of his lawyers, the losing party would have won. But again there might be exceptions. The action for negligence might be an abuse of process on the ground that it was manifestly unfair to someone else. Take, for example, the case of a defendant who published a serious defamation which he attempted unsuccessfully to justify. Should he be able to sue his lawyers and claim that if the case had been conducted differently, the allegation would have been proved to be true? It seemed unfair to the plaintiff in the defamation action that any court should be allowed to come to such a conclusion in proceedings to which he was not a party. On the other hand, it was equally unfair that he should have to join as a party and rebut the allegation for a second time. A man's reputation was not only a matter between him and the other party. It represented his relationship with the world. So it might be that in such circumstances, an action for negligence would be an abuse of the of the court. Having regard to the power of the court to strike out actions which had no prospect ofsuccess, the doctrine unlikely in that context to be invoked very often. The first step in any application to strike out an action alleging negligence in the conduct of a previous action had to be to ask whether it had a real prospect of success. Lord Hope, Lord Hutton and Lord Hobhouse delivered judgments in which they agreed that the immunity from suit was no longer required in relation to civil proceedings but dissented to the extent of saying that the immunity was still required in the public interest in the administration of justice in relation to criminal proceedings. Comment This decision is of major and historic importance in the English legal system for several reasons. It can be seen as a bold attempt by the senior judiciary to drag the legal profession (often a metonymy for the whole legal system) into the 21st century world of accountability and fair business practice. In his judgment, Lord Steyn makes this dramatic observation:

2012 ◽  
pp. 506-508

Author(s):  
Eduardo A. Rueda

This chapter focuses on showing legitimate ways for coping with uncertainties within the informed consent process of predictive genetic testing. It begins by indicating how uncertainty should be theoretically understood. Then, it describes three dimensions of uncertainty with regard to both the role of genes in pathogenesis and the benefit to patients of undergoing predictive genetic testing. Subsequently, the ways by which institutions tame these uncertainties are explained. Since viewing genes as exceptional informational entities plays an important role in taming uncertainties, it explains why this conception should be abandoned. Then, it discusses how institutional taming of uncertainty becomes a source of paternalism. What is stressed is that in order to avoid paternalism and ensure transparency within the informed consent process, open-to-uncertainty mechanisms should be implemented before the public and the individual. How patients should deal with potential implications of testing for their relatives is also considered.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-225
Author(s):  
Michelle Welsh ◽  
Helen Anderson

The loss suffered by unsecured creditors of all insolvent companies is the non-payment in full of amounts rightfully owed to them. This loss is all the more unacceptable to creditors when a company has been illegally phoenixed by the transfer from the insolvent company of assets at undervalue. One way of increasing the pool of funds available for distribution to creditors is to issue proceedings seeking compensation against directors alleging that their ‘phoenixing’ amounted to a breach of directors’ duties or insolvent trading. Such an action may be instigated by the liquidator and by ASIC. ASIC's enforcement role can be contrasted with the recovery role of the liquidator where the latter acts primarily in the furtherance of private interests, being those of the insolvent company's creditors; ASIC's mandate, on the other hand, is to act in the public interest. The purpose of this article is to examine the enforcement roles of liquidators and ASIC where suspected illegal phoenix activity has occurred. Following consideration of the difficulties faced by liquidators acting on behalf of creditors of phoenixed companies, this article considers whether it is appropriate, from a policy perspective, for the public regulator to promote private interests by exercising its enforcement powers for the benefit of creditors. The argument in favour of a publicly funded regulator seeking compensation for creditor losses is particularly compelling in the context of illegal phoenix activity, given the inability of creditors to bring enforcement proceedings themselves and the difficulties faced by liquidators when they seek redress for creditors’ losses.


Lampas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-48
Author(s):  
Michiel van der Keur

Summary In the Aeneid, the recurrent themes of ‘construction’ and ‘destruction’ (the topic of the Latin final exam of 2020) can be connected to generic roles. Dido, founder of Carthage, is presented progressively in elegiac terms, as is suggested by a number of echoes of Sapphic love poetry; as a character, she is guided primarily by personal motives. Dido’s ‘elegiac role’ forebodes her own destruction and that of her city. Aeneas, on the other hand, needs to adhere to his epic role as founder of the new Trojan/Roman nation, in order to avert destruction and the repetition of Troy’s fate. When during his stay in Carthage he starts to show signs of transforming into an elegiac lover, the gods intervene and put him back onto the epic track: the public interest should take precedence over personal feelings. This opposition between elegiac Dido and epic Aeneas may grant insight into Vergil’s message for his contemporaries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1276-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Hodeau ◽  
René Guinebretiere

Crystallography is little known to the public, even though it underpins much of the research into matter in physics, chemistry, new materials and life sciences. On the one hand, crystallography is present in almost every field of scientific or technical activity and also in innovative applications. On the other hand, the origins of crystallography started with humanity's interrogation and interaction with crystals in prehistoric times, which has continued to the present day. These two `views' can be used to focus public interest on crystallography and show children and students the importance of the scientific approach. As an example, this article describes the travelling exhibitionJourney into the crystal, which presents to the general public the science and the beauty of matter in the crystalline state. This exhibition takes visitors on a journey of discovery about matter, but also on a journey through time to the beginnings of crystallography.


APRIA Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
José Teunissen

In the last few years, it has often been said that the current fashion system is outdated, still operating by a twentieth-century model that celebrates the individualism of the 'star designer'. In I- D, Sarah Mower recently stated that for the last twenty years, fashion has been at a cocktail party and has completely lost any connection with the public and daily life. On the one hand, designers and big brands experience the enormous pressure to produce new collections at an ever higher pace, leaving less room for reflection, contemplation, and innovation. On the other hand, there is the continuous race to produce at even lower costs and implement more rapid life cycles, resulting in disastrous consequences for society and the environment.


Author(s):  
Anna Peterson

This book examines the impact that Athenian Old Comedy had on Greek writers of the Imperial era. It is generally acknowledged that Imperial-era Greeks responded to Athenian Old Comedy in one of two ways: either as a treasure trove of Atticisms, or as a genre defined by and repudiated for its aggressive humor. Worthy of further consideration, however, is how both approaches, and particularly the latter one that relegated Old Comedy to the fringes of the literary canon, led authors to engage with the ironic and self-reflexive humor of Aristophanes, Eupolis, and Cratinus. Authors ranging from serious moralizers (Plutarch and Aelius Aristides) to comic writers in their own right (Lucian, Alciphron), to other figures not often associated with Old Comedy (Libanius) adopted aspects of the genre to negotiate power struggles, facilitate literary and sophistic rivalries, and provide a model for autobiographical writing. To varying degrees, these writers wove recognizable features of the genre (e.g., the parabasis, its agonistic language, the stage biographies of the individual poets) into their writings. The image of Old Comedy that emerges from this time is that of a genre in transition. It was, on the one hand, with the exception of Aristophanes’s extant plays, on the verge of being almost completely lost; on the other hand, its reputation and several of its most characteristic elements were being renegotiated and reinvented.


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