Pregnant offered samples of several thousand – Swedish Dagbladet

Pregnant offered samples of several thousand – Swedish Dagbladet

The method is able to revolutionize prenatal diagnosis. A simple blood test can find chromosome abnormalities, such as Down syndrome. The alternative is an amniocentesis where a half to one percent of the samples leads to miscarriage, often for quite healthy fetuses.

Professor Bo Jacobsson, at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, has evaluated the technology already available in several countries in Europe .

– There is a great method. This fall, our results will be published. I do not want to say too much, but they look very promising, he says.

Later comes a report from the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment and the National Council on Medical Ethics which the risks and the ethical issues surrounding the method discussed .

The company TATAA Biocenter in Gothenburg waiting does not. Already tomorrow, Friday, it will begin to offer pregnant women to test themselves at a health center in Gothenburg, says company CEO Mikael Kubista.

But the analysis is not free. Between 5000 and 7000 crowns will the parents have to pay.

– It is not decided yet, it depends on the health center’s costs. But in Europe it will cost around 6000 SEK. Somewhere it will end, says Mikael Kubista.

TT: It sounds expensive, or

– I do not think so. I myself have children and we did amniocentesis and if I had been able to avoid the risk of miscarriage, I had paid without blinking.

Nils-Eric Sahlin, Professor of Medical Ethics at Lund University, thinks that there is a line ethical and medical questions that should be answered before the method is introduced in Sweden.

– For example, if the method is reliable, or if it will result in more abortions. Therefore it would be better to wait for the SBU’s study and the current studies.

– Obviously, it’s a moral problem that some will be able to buy this service, but others do not. So far we have had a system of equal treatment for all, but we should probably get used to this will not be the case. But what then happens with our health care system? These are questions we should be asking ourselves.