Genetic Discrimination in the Law Times

Michael McKiernan of the Law Times interviewed Omar Ha-Redeye on Bill 30 and Bill S201 in Need for genetic discrimination bills questioned,

Toronto health lawyer Omar Ha-Redeye says he welcomes the legislation, in the hope it will provide a potential boost to the development of individualized approaches to health care based on a patient’s genetic profile.

“We’re only just beginning to understand the complexity of the human genome, and it’s going to take us a couple of decades for us to fully get there. In the meantime, I would hate to see fallacious assumptions being made about genetic traits,” Ha-Redeye says.

However, the federal bill has raised the hackles of the insurance industry because of extra provisions that contemplate criminal sanctions in the enforcement of the ban on genetic discrimination.

S-201 outlaws requirements that people undergo genetic testing or disclose the results of previous tests as a condition of employment or service provision. The unauthorized sharing of a person’s genetic results could also be met with criminal penalties under the law.