Challenges of Personalized Medicine:
Socio-Legal Disputes and Possible
Solutions
Nada Bodiroga-Vukobrat and Hana Horak
Abstract We are living in an era of epic transformation and advancement of
medical science and technology, which allows us to gather comprehensive infor-
mation about a person’s health and predict and even prevent a disease. The focus on
personalized or individualized medicine presents new challenges, not only in the
fields of medical sciences, biotechnology, and nanotechnology but also in the fields
of social law and economy, where the consequences of medical activities are
manifested. The existence of technically available and possible methods of diag-
nostic and treatment raises the question whether there could be a constitutionally
guaranteed fundamental right of access to them. What consequences would the
introduction of personalized medicine in compulsory health insurance systems
have? Is it possible, would it destruct or reconstruct the essential features of
compulsory health insurance? These are just some of the issues this paper aims to
address.
1 Introduction
Human life and health enjoy the highest constitutional legal status, and various
facets of their protection are guaranteed and regulated in practically every sphere of
law, particularly social, medical, and criminal laws. We are living in an era of epic
transformation and advancement of medical science and technology, which allows
us to gather comprehensive information about a person’s health and predict and
Professor Nada Bodiroga-Vukobrat Ph.D., Head of Department of EU Public Law, Faculty of
Law, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.
Professor Hana Horak, Ph.D., Head of Department of Law, University of Zagreb Faculty of
Economics and Business, University of Zagren, Zagreb, Croatia.
N. Bodiroga-Vukobrat, Ph.D. (*)
Jean Monnet Department of European Public Law, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
e-mail:[email protected]
H. Horak, Ph.D.
Department of Law, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagren, Zagreb,
Croatia
©Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
N. Bodiroga-Vukobrat et al. (eds.),Personalized Medicine,Europeanization and
Globalization 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-39349-0_3
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