Keeping Pace with the Times — The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

On May 21, President George Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). Kathy Hudson, M.K. Holohan, and Dr. Francis Collins write that at last, the United States has a federal law that protects consumers from discrimination by health insurers and employers on the basis of genetic information. Dr. Francis Collins discusses the provisions of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and its likely effects on patient care and clinical research. Dr. Collins is director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.