On
The Burden of Knowledge and Genetic Discrimination
By
Timothy
Wong
Discrimination against other humans comes in all manner
of shapes and forms. Racism and Sexism are two of the most prominent examples,
and the most controversial. But humans have discriminated against each other
throughout the course of history for many, many reasons. In today’s culture, a
more recent and overlooked form of discrimination is genetic discrimination.
Genetic discrimination is simply “the misuse of genetic information” (1). More
specifically, it’s the tendency of health care providers or businesses to
discriminate against people based on genetic screens or family history. This
type of discrimination is grossly unkind and immoral; there ought to be no
circumstances under which a company could discriminate based on genetic
information.
There
are some more particular examples of this. “…some
people might be genetically more able to resist, for example, carcinogens in
the workplace. It might be cheaper to employ these people, rather than install
expensive health and safety measures designed to prevent them coming into
contact with the substances” (2). Additionally, “…people
have been refused life insurance policies on the results of genetic testing.
The argument of the insurance company is that it is not fair on those free of
the genetic condition to have to support people who know that they will suffer
from a condition, such as for example Huntingdon’s disease later in their lives” (2). These are
just a couple of specific examples of genetic discrimination, but the constant
theme is that businesses or insurance companies would use a person’s genetic
information, results from screens or family histories, to discriminate against
them through a variety of ways.
Clearly, genetic discrimination is wrong. Though, thanks to
the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, while companies can
legally ask for you genetic information, they are prohibited from using it in
order to discriminate (1). However, the system is far from perfect as, “[the]
employee has a high burden of proof to establish that the employer made a
particular employment decision based on his or her genetic information rather
than a legitimate business reason” (3). But, it is helpful to those who suffer
from genetic discrimination, and is one of the first steps toward stifling it.
And so, while this topic may not directly affect you, it will be more and more
prevalent as time goes on. I encourage you to be informed, and mindful of this
underrated and dangerous form of discrimination, as it will be affecting people
for many years to come.
(1) GINA
and You. (2010, May 1). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://cosage.mmg.msu.edu/sites/default/files/gina.pdf
(2) Use
of human genetic information. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.beep.ac.uk/content/197.0.html
(3) Drabiak-Syed,
K. (2010, June 11). Indiana University. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from
http://bioethics.iu.edu/programs/other/predicter/legal-updates/gina/
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