AFFIRMATIVE — EMPLOYMENT — GENETIC SCREENING — SIGNIFICANCE 288

WORKPLACE GENETIC SCREENING IS INCREASING

WORKPLACE GENETIC SCREENING IS INCREASING

Wendy Wagenheim, legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, The Detroit News January 27, 2000, SECTION: Opinion; Pg. Pg. A13 TITLE: Michiganians need strong genetic privacy // acs-EE2001

The U.S. Department of Labor has found that genetic screening in the workplace is on the rise. A 1982 federal report found that approximately 1.6 percent of surveyed companies were using genetic testing for employment purposes. A similar 1997 survey indicates that figure rose to 6 percent. Hundreds of cases have already been documented in which healthy individuals have suffered insurance and workplace discrimination on the basis of genetic information.

EMPLOYERS CONSTANTLY USE MEDICAL RECORD INFORMATION WITHOUT CONSENT

USA TODAY, July 26, 1999, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 14A TITLE: With patient-data leaks spreading, Congress fans the flames // acs-EE2001

Employers use medical information in hiring decisions, pharmacies sell prescription data to marketers, and researchers collect patient records for their studies. All without the patients' knowledge or consent.

35% OF BIG CORPORATIONS USE MEDICAL INFORMATION IN HIRING

Mike Hudson, Knight Ridder News Service, The Denver Post, October 30, 1999 SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A-02 TITLE: Clinton issues medical mandate Privacy standards toughened // acs-EE2001

Several chain drugstores have admitted to making private information available to pharmaceutical companies, and a recent study by the University of Illinois said 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies checked health records before they hired.

35% OF COMPANIES CURENTLY USE HEALTH INFORMATION IN HIRING DECISIONS

Kasper Zeuthen, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) September 7, 1999, SECTION: Pg. 7 TITLE: Reportage Nippon / Health information moves too freely in United States // acs-EE2001

In 1996, 35 percent of the Fortune 500 companies acknowledged that they use personal health information in making employment decisions. In the case of the pharmaceutical industry, a company may use medical records to learn which prescription drug a person is using and then contact the patient's physician to push its own brand. According to a Congressional Research Service study, during an average hospital stay, a patient's records are legally seen by at least 400 people.

ONE THIRD OF THE FORTUNE 500 USE MEDICAL INFORMATION FOR HIRING

JANE BIRNBAUM; WORTH MAGAZINE, The Plain Dealer, December 27, 1999 SECTION: HEALTH & FITNESS; Pg. 2F TITLE: CONCERN GROWS OVER INTRUSION INTO PERSONAL MEDICAL RECORDS // acs-EE2001

Employment may be the most sensitive area of concern. David Linowes, University of Illinois political-science professor, was the chair of a privacy commission under presidents Ford and Carter, and since 1979, he and his co-researcher, Ray Spencer, have been asking Fortune 500 companies if they use medical data in employment decisions.

About a third of the respondents answered yes in the last survey, in 1996, and Linowes says that applicants can consider themselves very likely to undergo such scrutiny.

EMPLOYERS ARE BEGINNING TO SCREEN FOR HIV AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Robert Verkaik, The Independent (London), March 7, 1999, SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 2 TITLE: BIG BROTHER IS SERIOUSLY DAMAGING YOUR HEALTH Web // acs-EE2001

Jones says there is evidence that HIV/Aids screening and sexual orientation testing is becoming more popular among employers. Although much of this testing is in its infancy, the IER says it is to the American experience where we should look to see where extensive testing of the workforce might lead. Nevertheless, bosses in this country are still pressing ahead with genetic testing programmes because of the need to protect pension funds from early pay-outs to workers who are more likely to leave work through ill-health. Jones says this kind of testing takes no account of the environmental factors in diseases like cancer and asthma.