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Sharon M. McDonnell, MD, MPH; R. Gibson Parrish, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:2426.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

ALTHOUGH WE agree with many of the points made by Dubois and Kowdley, we do not agree that our current knowledge of and available screening tests for hemochromatosis meet the US Preventive Services Task Force and World Health Organization criteria for population-based screening. We agree with the findings of the 1997 multidisciplinary expert panel,¹ which were nicely summarized by Davis² in her 1998 editorial:

[G]enetic testing for hereditary hemochromatosis is not recommended in population-based screening. The panel primarily based this decision on the lack of data on the penetrance of the 2 known hemochromatosis mutations and on the uncertain predictive value of specific genotypes for future disease. The panel also concluded that more information is needed on the proportion of persons carrying specific mutations, the distribution of the various mutations in different ethnic groups, and sex- and age-related differences in expression . . . [Full Text of this Article]