In medicine we often ask, "How would this test change management?" As it turns out, buying the 23andMe test and then taking modafinil is more expensive than tak

In medicine we often ask, "How would this test change management?" As it turns out, buying the 23andMe test and then taking modafinil is more expensive than taking modafinil, but it doesn't seem to change management. With or without the 23andMe test, you could have tried modafinil. I wouldn't consider your story a success for 23andMe (though I would consider it a success for you, and for modafinil; cheers!). We are getting closer to clinical utility of these tests. I'm no Luddite. But I think that these tests need to be thought about like every other medical test. (See http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0706728 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0706728 for why I say that we're not quite there yet, but getting closer for some phenotypes.) It's one thing to say that you have a right to your raw genetic data; like I said, I'm sympathetic to it from a rights-based standpoint, though not a clinical one for reasons that bhickey has brought up. It's another thing to say (not implying that you are saying this) that companies should be allowed to make clinical claims about you based this data. That interpretive step merits thoughtful consideration, and probably regulation.