Today, at an event at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, President Clinton will sign an executive order that prohibits every federal department and agency from using genetic information in any hiring or promotion action. This historic action will ensure that critical health information from genetic tests is not used against federal employees. The President today will also endorse the Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act of 1999, introduced by Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Slaughter, which would extend these protections to the private sector and to individuals purchasing health insurance. Finally, the President will state his strong belief that efforts to find genetic cures for disease must not undermine vital patient protections, and he will ask the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expedite FDA and NIH reviews of gene therapy guidelines and regulations.
Genetic discrimination is real.
Thirteen percent of the respondents reported that they or another family member had been denied a job or fired from a job because of a genetic condition in the family. Fear of discrimination is widespread. Confidentiality of genetic test results is a major concern for the public. Today, the President will sign an executive order that prohibits every agency in the Federal government from using genetic testing in any hiring or promotion action. Employers would not be able to request or require employees to undergo genetic tests in order to evaluate an employee s ability to perform his or her job.