Medical genetic testing, ‘next generation sequencing’, is increasingly generating data that could become useful for patients after they have been discharged from care. If new information is discovered that links a disease to a specific mutation, do health professionals have a legal duty to recontact their patients? Apart from other concerns (such as respecting the patient’s right not to know), in many cases, this would require re-evaluation or re-analysis of the data. Taking such issues into account, we conclude that, at least at this point in time, it is not arguable that there is an unconditional duty of this kind. Health professionals should always do what can be reasonably expected from them to do justice to the patient’s right to information. When there is reason to believe that recontacting would be of significant clinical relevance for the patient, they should do so, unless efforts and costs involved would be disproportional.

中文翻译：

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在遗传学背景下重新接触的责任：未来还是现实？

医学遗传测试，即“下一代测序”，正在越来越多地生成数据，这些数据在患者出院后可能对患者有用。如果发现将疾病与特定突变相关联的新信息，卫生专业人员是否有法律义务重新与患者联系？除了其他问题（例如尊重患者的不知情权）外，在许多情况下，这还需要对数据进行重新评估或重新分析。考虑到这些问题，我们得出结论，至少在目前，这种无条件义务是无可辩驳的。卫生专业人员应始终尽其所能合理预期，以公正对待患者的知情权。