55 Percent of Americans Think That You Should Be Allowed to Buy Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests

In
November, the Food and Drug Admininstration
ordered the direct-to-consumer genotype screening company
23andMe to stop selling its Personal Genome Service to the public.
Why the ban? Because the agency bureaucrats fear that Americans are
too stupid to handle the information supplied by the company. The
company has agreed to stop selling to new customers, but will still
provide updates to current customers. The
December Reason-Rupe Poll asked:

Do you think the government should prohibit people from [Buying
genetic testing kits that provide information about a person’s DNA
(such as information about risk factors for certain diseases)], or
should the government allow people to do this?

•
Prohibit………………………………………….37%

•
Allow……………………………………………..55%

• DK/Refused………………………………………8%

But the FDA thinks it knows better than the majority of
Americans.