Department of Psychiatry
Columbia University Medical Center
Seminar series on Legal and Ethical Issues in Psychiatry and General
Medicine
Jessica L. Roberts, JD
Associate-in-Law, Columbia Law School
Assistant Professor of Law (Fall 2010), University of Houston Law Center
Bahrad Sokhansanj, PhD
2nd year student, Columbia Law School
Introducing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act: Civil Rights in the Post-Genome Era
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010
4:00 - 5:15 p.m.
Room 3002
New York State Psychiatric Institute
Sequencing the human genome provides a powerful tool for advancing personalized medicine but, at the same time, brings with it the potential for discrimination. Despite few reports of genetic discrimination, the public remains wary of genetic tests, fearful that a result showing the risk for disease and disability would lead to being denied health insurance and losing their job. To address these fears, scientists and biotechnology industry lobbyists advocated federal legislation to prevent genetic discrimination. After almost thirteen years of legislative debate, Congress passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) in May 2008.
GINA prohibits health insurers and employers from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. We will describe the role of scientists in shaping GINA, its current protections, and the implications of enacting fear-based antidiscrimination legislation.
Upcoming Speakers
March 16: Judge Donald Volkert, Superior Court of NJ, Passaic Vicinage
April 20: Nancy Dubler, LLB, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva Univ.
May 11: Lynn Jansen, PhD, Bioethics Institute, NY Medical College
June 15: Forensic Psychiatry Fellows, Dept. of Psychiatry, Columbia University
For further information or to convey suggestions about future speakers, contact Paul S. Appelbaum, MD, Director, Division of Law, Ethics, and Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, at 212-543-4184 or psa21@columbia.edu.
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