SENATE COMMITTEE TO VOTE ON GENETIC NONDISCRIMINATION BILL

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and HELP Committee ranking member Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) have called on Congress to act quickly on the "Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act."

The bill would "prohibit genetic discrimination by health insurers and employers who may attempt to use genetic information against persons with potential health problems," the lawmakers said in a Jan. 18 statement.

Kennedy has scheduled a committee vote Jan. 24 on the Senate bill, which has not yet been finalized. A House version, H.R.493, was introduced by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) Jan. 16 and has been referred to the House committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means.

The bill comes as genetic medicine is becoming an undeniable part of the healthcare landscape; in particular, gene-based diagnostics and "personalized medicine" -- targeting treatments to specific patient populations based on identifying gene variants that predispose them to particular diseases.

Previous versions of the bill passed the Senate by wide margins -- 95-0 in 2003 (S.1053) and 98-0 in 2005 (S.306) -- but sputtered in the House. The prospects for passage in the House have brightened considerably since then, according to HELP Committee sources.