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The Council for Responsible Genetics, a public interest organization, is hailing the Final Rule implementing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) released today by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In its Final Rule, the EEOC lays out in detail strong protections against genetic discrimination and employer access to genetic information for every American worker.
“Americans can finally take advantage of the tremendous potential of genetic research without the fear that their own genetic information will be used against them,” said CRG President Jeremy Gruber. “This was a significant victory for the Council for Responsible Genetics, as virtually all our recommendations for reform were incorporated by the EEOC into the Final Rule.”
The Council for Responsible Genetics played the lead role in advocating for a strong Final Rule implementing GINA. CRG President Jeremy Gruber met multiple times with the EEOC Commissioners and formally testified before them. He was the lead drafter of multiple sets of written comments in conjunction with the Genetic and Public Policy Center (referenced as GPPC in the Final Rule Supplementary Information), comments that were adopted by civil rights and patient’s groups, including among others the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Coalition for Genetic Fairness.
“There is still so much to do to ensure that genetic privacy in this country is respected. Nevertheless, we are one step closer to our goal,” said CRG President Jeremy Gruber.
The Final Rule implementing GINA may be accessed in the Federal Register here:
http://frwebgate2.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=iAu91C/0/2/0&WAISaction=retrieve
Since 1983, the Council for Responsible Genetics has represented the public interest and fostered public debate about the social, ethical and environmental implications of genetic technologies. CRG is a leader in the movement to steer biotechnology toward the advancement of public health, environmental protection, equal justice, and respect for human rights.
