I run a primary care medical practice.

Assume: the 23andMe test is an excellent clinical tool. I want to include it as common medical practice.

Problem: all “consumers” of  the “23andMe Service” are bound by the following contract:

23andMe Service Is For Research and Educational Use Only. We Do Not Provide Medical Advice, And The Services Cannot Be Used For Health Ascertainment or Disease Purposes

Question: How do I legally and ethically use a 23andMe test in my medical practice when I’m contractually bound not to?

Answer:

Oh. Right. I’m supposed to “ignore” that part of the contract.

Law for us but not for you, right?

Patients helped by 23andMe: zero —and by design! You never wanted to help patients! You always wanted to be popular!

…Well, I do see that you’ve invented a great medical test. And, I do see that you’ve designed a great medical report. And that’s worth some considerations. But I do have one question. When you go to your next little company, you will be selling software to medical doctors as medicine, and I image you’re going to take off that handsome looking 23andMe brand of yours— and nobody will know how bad you tried to fuck doctors. Now that… I can’t abide.

Faking Reasonable: The Null Hypothesis

Meanwhile, Navigenics still pushes their useless tests on doctors:

The contents of our Site …are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

You should not ignore professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of Your Report or any other Content. Furthermore, you should not interpret Your Report or any other Content as recommending any specific treatment plan, product or course of action.

In other words: there is no difference between a treatment and the control. Well, it doesn’t take a Ronald Fisher to publish Navigenics latest invention: The Magic 5% Gene License. Oh boy! Gene licences! Gotta catch ‘em all!

But nobody trusted Navigenics to change the world. At least Navigenics didn’t betray me.