WASHINGTON, UPI – President Bush said Saturday he wanted to protect Americans from misuse of human genetic code information.
"With this information comes enormous possibilities for doing good," Bush said in his weekly radio address to the nation. "Through a better understanding of the genetic codes, scientists might one day be able to cure and prevent countless diseases."
In February, scientists with the Human Genome Project said they had mapped 95 percent of the human genetic code, unleashing the possibilities of not only understanding and treating diseases, but also identifying who may have a predisposition or susceptibility to an ailment such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease.
"A genetic predisposition toward cancer or heart disease does not mean the condition will develop," Bush said. "To deny employment or insurance to a healthy person based only on a predisposition violates our country's belief in equal treatment and individual merit."
Bush said scientific developments raise serious moral and legal questions. Concerns are growing that employers and insurance companies will use genetic information to deny jobs or insurance to people with genetic markers for certain diseases. And a concern also exists that laws have not kept pace with scientific and technological advances in genetic research.
The White House called genetic discrimination unfair to workers and their families as it involves "little more than medical speculation."
As a result, he directed his administration to work with congressional lawmakers to develop legislation aimed at addressing the complex legal and scientific issues involved.
As governor of Texas, Bush signed legislation in 1997 that banned genetic discrimination in employment and group health plans.
"In the past, other forms of discrimination have been used to withhold rights and opportunities that belong to all Americans," he said Saturday. "Just as we have addressed discrimination based on race, gender and age, we must now prevent discrimination based on genetic information."
His comments came as the U.S. Senate is struggling to pass a patients' bill of rights that would allow consumers to sue their health maintenance organizations. Democrats fought efforts by GOP members to weaken the bill and delay its passage using complex Senate rules. Bush on Thursday threatened to veto the measure that allows plaintiffs to sue their HMOs for up to $5 million.
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