CDU Contributing Writer

The explosion of Internet-based advertising for genetic tests has provoked a sharp reaction from the European Union's top advisers on ethics. They issued a call for caution last month and promised to investigate the matter closely.

The group is concerned about the proliferation of "increasingly aggressive and pervasive" offers of genetic tests aimed at establishing fatherhood or predisposition to heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. Even in Europe, it said, such advertising "can even be found in popular chain stores, service stations, highway restaurants and on television."

The EU group on ethics in science and new technologies the handpicked counselors to European Commission President Romano Prodi on biotechnology took the unusual step of putting out a strongly worded statement "to alert civil society and decision makers on the problems raised by advertising of genetic tests via the Internet."

It criticized mass marketing of genetic tests as often being "misleading and incomplete, particularly in view of the limited level of predictability of diseases linked to test results in the case of multigenic characters. Often, there are not sufficient guarantees that genetic data sent for such tests have been collected in compliance with the regulations applying to data subjects' consent with particular regard to paternity tests," it said.

This raises "serious problems in ethical, social and legal terms," which it said "require urgent attention." The group's contention is that genetic tests can be harmful without proper advice and counseling, and that the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine makes the legality of genetic tests "conditional upon 'appropriate genetic counseling.'"

As far back as 1996 the group already had remarked in relation to prenatal diagnosis that "careful genetic counseling, both before and after the test, is an integral part of the test and should not be separated from sampling and testing." And it has now backed up that observation with the warning that "databases of genetic test results could be used to discriminate against some groups of persons."

"Consequences of genetic testing for both individuals and society should be assessed carefully," it said last week. "Given the peculiar features of genetic data, fundamental rights may be violated, in particular equality rights. Both individuals' health and confidentiality of health data may be jeopardized. Advertising of genetic tests tends to convert them into commodities and to give rise to a demand for genetic testing which may result in disruption of social and personal conflicts."

The group already is working on the ethical aspects of genetic testing in the workplace, but its statement makes clear that it also now intends to work more broadly on the full range of issues raised by genetic testing.

Medtronic opens Netherlands facility

Medtronic (Minneapolis, Minnesota) last month opened what it called its "largest and most integrated distribution center in the world" in Heerlen, in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. "This new distribution center increases our capabilities to provide lifelong solutions to people with chronic disease at any place, at any time," said Hans Wijnands, vice president, Medtronic Benelux and Nordic.

More than 30,000 medical devices are sent each day from Heerlen to all over Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada and Latin America.

Consisting of more than 30,000 square meters, the facility distributes sophisticated medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators to provide therapy for cardiac disease, neurostimulators to treat Parkinson's patients and pumps that help to control insulin levels of diabetes patients.

Medtronic said it chose the Trilandis business park in Heerlen for the distribution center "because of its central location in Europe, the excellent infrastructure and the presence of a highly qualified workforce in the region." More than 700 people work in the new Medtronic building in Trilandis, making the company one of the largest employers in the area. In total, the construction of the building involved an investment of more than EUR 30 million.

Next to the distribution center, another building houses Medtronic's Benelux and Nordic regional sales organization, and the European Information Technology and Financial Shared Services Center. The Financial Shared Services Center serves the financial needs of Medtronic on a European level.

Medtronic has two other major operations in the Netherlands. The Bakken Research Center in Maastricht employs about 160 scientists, researchers and technical experts, who work with medical specialists to develop new therapies and perfect existing therapies. Vitatron, an independently operating manufacturer of pacemakers, is established in Arnhem and is Europe's No. 2 pacemaker manufacturer. Vitatron has been operating as a subsidiary of Medtronic since 1986.