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passage of new law to protect patients from genetic discriminationFrom: Dean Huffman . (dean@thehuffpeople.net)Thu May 29 17:34:47 2008
.. AMA applauds passage of new law to protect patients from genetic discrimination May 22, 2008 Statement attributable to: Edward Langston, MD AMA Board Chair "Patients in the U.S. are now protected against genetic discrimination because of a new law to keep their genetic information secure. The American Medical Association has long called for better patient privacy safeguards as scientific advancements make it possible to individualize health care for patients. The AMA applauds Congress and the president for working together to pass the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 into federal law. "Genetic testing holds great promise for improving public health, and patients must be able to trust that their genetic information will be protected from inappropriate and discriminatory uses. This new law will allow patients to take advantage of scientific advances in genetics, such as screenings and therapies, without worrying that their personal health information could be used against them by insurers or employers. Insurers will be prohibited from denying or canceling coverage or raising premiums based on a patient's genetic information and employment-based genetic discrimination will be prohibited. ### For more information, please contact: Mollie Turner AMA Media Relations (202) 789-7430 - - - - On a more sober note, the protections might not be as good as advertised. It does not apply to all employers, just those over a certain size. It probably does not appy to the government (the US government has a sneaky way of exempting itself from most of the laws it writes). How easy it will be to prove genetic discrimination is another matter, too. Even if the organization discriminated, this does not mean that the organization will admit to discrimination or that it will be easy to prove it. A strong law would make the possesion at any time of any genetic information prima facia evidence of discrimination. A strong law would also make the organization pay legal costs of plaintiffs that prevail. See: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00493:X http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.00493: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c110:6:./temp/~c110oXrKDo::
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