Sweeping legislation designed to protect the genetic privacy of Massachusetts residents won unanimous approval last Friday in the state Senate, four days after it sailed through the House of Representatives without opposition.
Besides requiring a person’s written permission before the results of any genetic testing can be released to anyone but his or her attending physician, the measure prohibits genetic discrimination in banking and financial services, including loans and mortgages, buying health insurance or applying for a job. Violators face fines and possible criminal prosecution.
The measure, which Gov. Paul Cellucci is expected to sign in law within the next 30 days, also establishes a special commission to study the issue for two years. The panel, as yet to be named, is to report its findings to state lawmakers for possible legislative action in the future.
There was no immediate comment from the Direct Marketing Association, the American Insurance Association or the American Medical Association.
State Senate Majority Leader Linda Melconian introduced the measure last month just days after scientists in Washington announced they had virtually completed identifying the long string of molecules that directs the development and functioning of the human body.
That announcement, she explained, made it “pretty clear that this was serious business, that it was 21st-century technology that needed consumer protections.”
She also noted that the life insurance industry, which uses health testing in connection with policy purchases, fought to block the measure’s passage claiming that it would be deprived of an important business tool.
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