This research has been hailed by the Jewish community as significant progress in our general understanding of cancer, and for its potential to help members of our community manage their own cancer risk. We believe that this research will ultimately help everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike. These concerns are primarily about genetic discrimination in insurance or employment. Since the breast cancer research results first appeared, Hadassah has understood that fear of genetic discrimination might keep individuals from undergoing genetic testing to gain health information. We have heard this fear expressed, throughout the United States, in our Hadassah-sponsored community health forums and via frantic telephone calls received by our Health Education Department in New York.
Individual stories are easy to find.
One of our own Hadassah Board Members who has a strong family history of breast cancer will not take a genetic test, for fear her daughter may be at risk for discrimination. Such stories are reported regularly in the Jewish press. Major national newspapers also report evidence of this fear. Instead, the companies reported that they had not seen much business in the past year. Individuals interviewed in the story stated that fear of discrimination played a key role in their decision not to take a test, even where they believed it could provide critical medical information.