Gene-Testing measure becomes law

OK, so this is a post on something that happened a while back, but remember, Oprah preempted it. There's been a fairly steady march of legislation that prohibits discrimination on a variety of fronts (racism, etc). One of those fronts, and perhaps the newest one, happens to be genetic testing. The latest version of the law prohibits employers and insurance companies from discrimination when a genetic test reveals susceptibility to a costly disease. It passed overwhelmingly.

This whole area leads to some interesting personal behaviors. Some people I've talked to pay cash and use fake names when they do genetic testing, and others don't do it at all (although honestly that's mostly because of the expense). Also, there's the question that genetic testing for Celiacs is more about ruling the condition out right now than confirming the diagnosis. While the law was likely targeted at conditions that are super-costly, it applies to everyone.

I'm unclear on whether this law will help or hurt the cause of awareness, but on balance, I think it will help. While most people don't like discussing medical conditions, this legislation likely makes it less personally costly to do so. One thing that would help awareness would be a lawsuit brought by a Celiac under this statute, but I honestly don't wish that on either the employer or the employed -- there's better ways to raise awareness. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.