Frank Swain Testifies before U.S. House Subcommittee on Genetic Fairness

Frank Swain Testifies before U.S. House Subcommittee on Genetic Fairness

WASHINGTON - Frank Swain, Senior Vice President of B&D Consulting, testified today before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health in support of legislation that would prohibit discrimination against individuals because of their genetic makeup.

Swain, a former Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), has led the B&D Consulting team providing counsel to the Genetic Alliance, an organization that advocates on behalf of patients and families impacted by genetic conditions, to advance the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

B&D Consulting's nationally recognized Health & Life Sciences Practice represents a number of patient advocacy organizations whose members included individuals and families impacted by genetic conditions including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Fragile X.

"There is no issue I have worked on, in my nearly 30 year professional career in legal and public policy issues in Washington, that is more important to as many people over the long and short term than this legislative proposal," Swain said.

The purpose of the bill is to ensure that individuals with genetic conditions are not discriminated against in the workplace or in seeking insurance coverage. Similarly, with significant biomedical research breakthroughs occurring, the legislation will help ensure that individuals do not forego potentially life-saving genetic testing procedures simply because they fear the outcome my result in loss of job or insurance coverage.

"Employer or insurer use of an individual's genetic information, which may predict future disease, is not today prohibited by federal law. It is this gap that the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act fills," Swain said.

Noting his long experience and interest in protecting small business owners from crippling regulations, Swain pointed out that the legislation will not burden small employers.

"The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act will be one of the most important accomplishments of this or any Congress. It will protect the individual, stimulate research and encourage treatment advances at nearly no cost to the government or the private sector," Swain said.