When being informed about newly discovered (genetic) health information, individuals have the opportunity to undergo additional treatment or screening or it can influence protential life choices. However, it can also cause distress or conflict with their wish not to receive further updates. Consequently, professionals have difficulty assessing whether it is their responsibility to recontact an individual or not, since this highly depends on contextual factors and circumstances. This leads to moral distress and uncertainty about eventual liability among professionals involved. Based on the ethical and legal framework on the duty to recontact, as well as empirical analysis, the authors created ‘assessment criteria’ that support professionals in responsible decision-making when recontacting individuals.

The criteria, individual’s prefence, clinical impact, professional relationship and feasability need to aid professionals in their decision-making process. Eventhough the duty of professionals to recontact will evolve into a defined professional responsibility as the role of personlised cancer care keeps growing, the authors development of professional guidelines are of high priority during this process according to the authors.