scholarly journals Genetic information, insurance and a pluralistic approach to justice

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106913
Author(s):  
Jonathan Pugh

The use of genetic testing has prompted the question of whether insurance companies should be able to use predictive genetic test results (GTRs) in their risk classification of clients. While some jurisdictions have passed legislation to prohibit this practice, the UK has instead adopted a voluntary code of practice that merely restricts the ways in which insurance companies may use GTRs. Critics have invoked various theories of justice to argue that this approach is unfair. However, as well as sometimes relying on somewhat idealised assumptions, these analyses have tended to invoke theories that have wide-ranging and highly revisionary implications for insurance. Moreover, they fail to adequately engage with a conception of justice that plausibly undergirds the status quo approach to insurance in the UK. I argue that it is a mistake to simply invoke a single contestable theory in seeking to develop sound policy on the use of GTRs in insurance. To that end, in this paper, I outline three plausible principles of justice that policy on this issue ought to balance: A principle of equity, a principle of equal access and a principle of need. In doing so, I shall offer a pluralist justice-based argument in support of the spirit, if not the precise letter, of the UK approach.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-113
Author(s):  
Jefry Antonius Karlia ◽  
Wawan Nurmansyah

The problem that often arises in insurance companies is the number of customers who do not smoothly pay premiums. The procedure that applies to the insurance during the grace period is 30 days. The insured customer must follow the premium payment procedure, if the customer does not pay the premium, the insurance policy will be canceled, this is part of the company's loss. An insurance company has a lot of data and this data can be processed to produce information on how to find out potential customer delays from a pattern formed using the C4.5 method. This research was conducted by applying the C4.5 algorithm using insurance customer data. The results of this study are a classification system for late payment of insurance premiums that can classify insurance customer premium payment status as a consideration for accepting insurance customers. The system test results show that the system can classify the status of insurance customer premium payments with a classification accuracy of 88%. Keywords: Algorithm C 4.5, Insurance, Classification, Premium


2020 ◽  
Vol 158 (6) ◽  
pp. S-324-S-325
Author(s):  
Takahisa Furuta ◽  
Takuma Kagami ◽  
Mihoko Yamade ◽  
Takahiro Suzuki ◽  
Tomohiro Higuchi ◽  
...  

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Omar Al-Dulaimi ◽  
Mostafa E. Rateb ◽  
Andrew S. Hursthouse ◽  
Gary Thomson ◽  
Mohammed Yaseen

More than 50% of the UK coastline is situated in Scotland under legislative jurisdiction; therefore, there is a great opportunity for regionally focused economic development by the rational use of sustainable marine bio-sources. We review the importance of seaweeds in general, and more specifically, wrack brown seaweeds which are washed from the sea and accumulated in the wrack zone and their economic impact. Rules and regulations governing the harvesting of seaweed, potential sites for harvesting, along with the status of industrial application are discussed. We describe extraction and separation methods of natural products from these seaweeds along with their phytochemical profiles. Many potential applications for these derivatives exist in agriculture, energy, nutrition, biomaterials, waste treatment (composting), pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other applications. The chemical diversity of the natural compounds present in these seaweeds is an opportunity to further investigate a range of chemical scaffolds, evaluate their biological activities, and develop them for better pharmaceutical or biotechnological applications. The key message is the significant opportunity for the development of high value products from a seaweed processing industry in Scotland, based on a sustainable resource, and locally regulated.


2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1501-1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Schneider ◽  
F. Brunner ◽  
J. M. Hollis ◽  
C. Stamm

Abstract. Predicting discharge in ungauged catchments or contaminant movement through soil requires knowledge of the distribution and spatial heterogeneity of hydrological soil properties. Because hydrological soil information is not available at a European scale, we reclassified the Soil Geographical Database of Europe (SGDBE) at 1:1 million in a hydrological manner by adopting the Hydrology Of Soil Types (HOST) system developed in the UK. The HOST classification describes dominant pathways of water movement through soil and was related to the base flow index (BFI) of a catchment (the long-term proportion of base flow on total stream flow). In the original UK study, a linear regression of the coverage of HOST classes in a catchment explained 79% of BFI variability. We found that a hydrological soil classification can be built based on the information present in the SGDBE. The reclassified SGDBE and the regression coefficients from the original UK study were used to predict BFIs for 103 catchments spread throughout Europe. The predicted BFI explained around 65% of the variability in measured BFI in catchments in Northern Europe, but the explained variance decreased from North to South. We therefore estimated new regression coefficients from the European discharge data and found that these were qualitatively similar to the original estimates from the UK. This suggests little variation across Europe in the hydrological effect of particular HOST classes, but decreasing influence of soil on BFI towards Southern Europe. Our preliminary study showed that pedological information is useful for characterising soil hydrology within Europe and the long-term discharge regime of catchments in Northern Europe. Based on these results, we draft a roadmap for a refined hydrological classification of European soils.


2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 887-888
Author(s):  
A. Lyons ◽  
A. McNeill ◽  
I. Gilmore ◽  
J. Britton
Keyword(s):  

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Prior

This paper reviews the status, position and legacy of Bourdieu in the sociology of music, the waxing and waning of his influence and the recent move away from Bourdieu towards something like a post-critical engagement with musical forms and practices. The idea is to show the reaction to and treatment of Bourdieu’s ideas as a gauge of where we are in the sociology of culture, the various strands of influence that emanate from his work, and to assess what is at stake in a ‘post-Bourdieu’ moment when a position once considered progressive and critical now acts as the foil against which new work is being conducted. The article engages with some recent contributions to the music/society debate from figures in the UK and France, and points to the ways these contributions move debates on musico-social relations into territories more sensitive to the complex mediating qualities of music. Such work is better placed, it is argued, to represent music as an animating force in everyday life, including its specific mediating qualities ‘in action’. At the same time, however, the construction of a new sociology of music is not without its perils. The article will conclude with some potential problems with these approaches, and take stock of what might be lost as well as gained by adherence to them.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermione C. Price ◽  
Philip M. Clarke ◽  
Alastair M. Gray ◽  
Rury R. Holman

Background. Insurance companies often offer people with diabetes ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ at preferential rates, in view of their reduced life expectancy. Objective. To assess the appropriateness of ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ rates for individuals with type 2 diabetes. Patients. There were 4026 subjects with established type 2 diabetes (but not known cardiovascular or other life-threatening diseases) enrolled into the UK Lipids in Diabetes Study. Measurements. Estimated individual life expectancy using the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Outcomes Model. Results. Subjects were a mean (SD) age of 60.7 (8.6) years, had a blood pressure of 141/83 (17/10) mm Hg, total cholesterol level of 4.5 (0.75) mmol/L, HDL cholesterol level of 1.2 (0.29) mmol/L, with median (interquartile range [IQR]) known diabetes duration of 6 (3—11) years, and HbA1c of 8.0% (7.2—9.0). Sixty-five percent were male, 91% white, 4% Afro-Caribbean, 5% Indian-Asian, and 15% current smokers. The UKPDS Outcomes Model median (IQR) estimated age at death was 76.6 (73.8—79.5) years compared with 81.6 (79.4—83.2) years, estimated using the UK Government Actuary’s Department data for a general population of the same age and gender structure. The median (IQR) difference was 4.3 (2.8—6.1) years, a remaining life expectancy reduction of almost one quarter. The highest value annuity identified, which commences payments immediately for a 60-year-old man with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes investing 100,000, did not reflect this difference, offering 7.4K per year compared with 7.0K per year if not diabetic. Conclusions. The UK Government Actuary’s Department data overestimate likely age at death in individuals with type 2 diabetes, and at present, ‘‘enhanced impaired life annuity’’ rates do not provide equity for people with type 2 diabetes. Using a diabetes-specific model to estimate life expectancy could provide valuable information to the annuity industry and permit more equitable annuity rates for those with type 2 diabetes.


1987 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 559-629
Author(s):  
Edward A. Johnston

1.1 A paper about the Appointed Actuary is essentially a paper about prudential supervision of life insurance companies. The system which has operated in the UK since the mid-1970's is only partly one of Government supervision. Through the professional role of the Appointed Actuary, it also contains elements of a system of self-regulation with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries standing in place of SRO's. Unlike the self-regulatory arrangements of the Financial Services Act. though, this second part of the system has grown up by custom and practice and in certain respects it is not codified. However it enables the Insurance Companies Act to be operated successfully.


Significance The differing perspectives of unionists and nationalists on the creation of Northern Ireland as a political entity within the United Kingdom, together with Brexit and tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), have brought the contentious issue of Irish reunification onto the political agenda in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Impacts Scottish independence would likely increase momentum for a referendum on Irish unity. Successful implementation of the NIP, giving firms access to EU and UK markets, may support arguments for maintaining the status quo. If the UK government abandons the NIP, the adverse trade impact on Northern Irish firms could increase support for unification.


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