Genetic Testing Law Goes Into Effect – Paves the Way for Advancements in Personalized Medicine

A law passed by Congress last year that prohibits health insurers and employers from discriminating against a person based on the results of genetic testing or family history will go a long way in advancing the field of personalized medicine.  The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) will go into effect November 21 for all employers with 15 employees or more (the law took effect for individual health insurance plans last May). 

Genetic testing helps identify variations in genes that might make someone predisposed to certain diseases and conditions.  This type of testing and the resulting information is critical to the new practice of personalized medicine which determines which treatments would be most effective for fighting specific diseases such as cancer.  OSU is one of the leaders in personalized medicine. 

“With the rapid advances in genomics medicine and biomedical informatics, we know more and more about each individual's genetics and its relationship to health and risk factors for diseases,” says Henry Zheng, director of operations for the OSU Center for Personalized Health Care. 

 While the increase in knowledge may empower physicians and patients, there is also an increased risk that such knowledge or information may be used to discriminate against individuals in situations such as employment, insurance and even in personal relationships. 

“For personalized medicine to have the impact of improving people's lives, appropriate safeguards must be in place to protect people's privacy and individual rights, “says Zheng.  “Patients must feel safe enough to share their genetics data with providers to receive the right care at the right time.  For this objective, GINA provides the necessary regulatory framework for personalized medicine to work.” 

For more information, see the story in The New York Times.

For more on the OSU Center for Personalized Health Care click the website