SENATE PASSES GENETIC DISCRIMINATION BAN

By unanimous vote, the Senate April 24 voted to ban firms--and particularly health insurance companies--from using genetics to discriminate against policyholders and workers.

The vote marked the next stage in a long fight by unions and their allies against such genetic discrimination, touched off by a court case years ago involving workers at the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.

Without their permission, the carrier tested several workers for genes that could lead to the prospective employees for genetically carried ailments, such as Sickle Cell Anemia and Tay-Sachs Disease. Its health insurer then refused to cover those with genes that could lead to future ailments and expensive hospitalization. When BNSF used the results as a result to refuse to hire otherwise-qualified workers, they--through their union--sued and won.

Anti-genetic discrimination legislation has been pushed for 13 years by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.). A vote on her bill may occur by the end of the month.

But the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, warns that even if the legislation passes, and GOIO President George W. Bush signs it, implementation would still be up to the private sector, which means the insurers could still play havoc with workers’ lives and jobs, based on genetic testing.

It explained Harvard University geneticist George Church, director of the “Personal Genome Project,” aims to sequence 100,000 genomes at a cost of about $1 billion, and possibly expand the project until it reaches 1 million sequenced genomes.

“For individuals, this growth of genomic data means more accurate personal genetic information will become available to them, their physicians and, yes, their insurance companies, to make perhaps monumental health care decisions. This new information could well be a blessing or a curse, depending on how it is handled by patients, their doctors and their insurers. That’s why legislation based on the best bioethical principles needs to be enacted by Congress this year. Genetic testing will become increasingly more accurate as more research is done,” the center said.