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27 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 1573 (1993)
Genetic Testing, Access to Genetic Data, and Discrimination: Conceptual Legislative Models

handle is hein.journals/sufflr27 and id is 1593 raw text is: LEGISLATIVE MODELS GENETIC TESTING, ACCESS TO GENETIC DATA, AND DISCRIMINATION: CONCEPTUAL LEGISLATIVE MODELS Barry Brown* INTRODUCrION The rapid development of genetic testing and screening mechanisms has prompted state legislatures to consider the basis upon which indi- viduals may be subjected to genetic testing and upon what grounds the results of such tests would be made available to family members, in- surers, employers, and government agencies.' Within this century, we have been witness to public health theories that supported government monitoring of the status of the population with respect to certain diseases, only to see such government inter- vention collapse in a hail of public criticism.2 Such historical markers serve as beacons in the face of the new science of genetics which, in an ever more convincing form, is providing fuel to move the non-scien- tific community to adopt procedures which purport to protect individ- ual rights, while at the same time accommodating those interests desirous of obtaining tests results enabling the systematic analysis of individuals for economic or informational purposes. The argued pur- pose underlying much of the current genetic testing legislation is the purported public health benefit obtained from determining the extent of hereditary disorders and genetic abnormalities which may exist in the general population.3 * Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School. Professor Brown is grateful for the assistance provided in the preparation of this material by Therese Lee Caribillo, J.D. 1994, and Theodore R. Allen, Ph.D., a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. 1. For a thorough analytical examination of state legislative efforts to permit or limit the use of genetic information, see Jean E. McEwen & Philip R. Reilly, State Legislative Efforts to Regulate Use and Potential Misuse of Genetic Information, 51 AM. J. HUM. GE- NETICS 637-47 (1992). 2. Of particular note is the eugenics movement in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. See Jon Beckwith, A Historical View of Social Responsibility in Genetics, 43 BIOSCIENCE 187-93 (1993). 3. See generally RUTH HUBBARD ET AL., EXPLODING THE GENE MYTH (Beacon Press 1993); see also Paul R. Billings, et al., Discrimination as a Consequence of Genetic Testing, 50 Am. J. HUM. GENETICS 476-82 (1992); Editorial, Priorities in Professional Ethics and Social Policy for Human Genetics, 266 J. AM. MED. ASS'N 1835-56 (1991).

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