Unfortunately, this is not THAT kind of post. But it does still discuss a pr*ck from Oklahoma.
GINA is the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act which has broad support in the House and Senate as well as from the White House. So why hasn't it been acted upon? Because Rep. Coburn from Oklahoma, he who touts his physician credentials widely, has placed a hold on it so it can be revised to include employer protections.
This bill is a no-brainer. It keeps your genetic information private and prevents employers and insurance companies from denying you jobs, coverage, etc because you might have, for example, the gene for breast or prostate cancer or alzheimers. For those of you who think you should pay lower premiums than someone with certain genetic predispositions or that employers should be able to decide whether to hire and cover you, Bernadine Healy has this to say in her article on GINA: "Genomic research has shown us that we all carry around dozens of glitches in our DNA. There are no perfect specimens." Care to let your Human Resources office in on those glitches? Me neither.
Now all we have to do is motivate "Dr." Coburn to do right by patients, by his constituents, and by the constituents of those GINA-supporting MOCs waiting for him to drop the power trip already. Maybe we can find a way to have Rep. Coburn's genome mapped and then ask him to step down in advance of his {insert disease here]'s onset. I'm sure he won't mind his EMPLOYER--you know, the American People, knowing what the Coburn clan has hiding in the family tree.
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