Comparative Law. Genetic Privacy. Icelandic Supreme Court Holds That Inclusion of an Individual's Genetic Information in a National Database Infringes on the Privacy Interests of His Child. Gudmundsdottir v. Iceland, no. 151/2003 (Nov. 27, 2003) (Ice.)

2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (2) ◽  
pp. 810 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
National Database ◽  
Genetic Privacy

Laboratory Specimens and Genetic Privacy: Evolution of Legal Theory

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. 65-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Huckaby Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Biological Samples ◽  
Biological Tissue ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Genetic Privacy ◽  
Tissue Samples

Human biological tissue samples are an invaluable resource for biomedical research designed to find causes of diseases and their treatments. Controversy has arisen, however, when research has been conducted with laboratory specimens either without the consent of the source of the specimen or when the research conducted with the specimen has expanded beyond the scope of the original consent agreement. Moreover, disputes have arisen regarding which party, the researcher or the source of the specimen, has control over who may use the specimens and for what purposes. The purposes of this article are: (1) to summarize the most important litigation regarding the use of laboratory specimens, and (2) to demonstrate how legal theory regarding control of laboratory specimens has evolved from arguments based upon property interests in biological samples to claims that the origins of laboratory specimens have privacy interests in their genetic information that should be protected.

Genetic Privacy Laws and Patients' Fear of Discrimination by Health Insurers: The View from Genetic Counselors

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Hall ◽  
Stephen S. Rich
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Genetic Privacy ◽  
Genetic Tests ◽  
Group Health ◽  
Privacy Laws ◽  
Similar Legislation ◽  
Do So ◽  
Health Insurers

Since 1991, over half the states have enacted laws that restrict or prohibit insurers’ use of genetic information in pricing, issuing, or structuring health insurance. Wisconsin was the first state to do so, in 1991, followed by Ohio in 1993, California and Colorado in 1994, and then several more states a year in each of the next five years. Similar legislation has been pending in Congress for several years. Also, a 1996 federal law known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits group health insurers from applying “preexisting condition” exclusions to genetic conditions that are indicated solely by genetic tests and not by any actual symptoms.

Comparative Law in the NJAC Judgment

2018 ◽  
pp. 197-207
Author(s):  
Suhrith Parthasarathy
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Judicial Independence ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Judicial Appointments ◽  
The Supreme Court

This essay is an overview of the use of comparative law in the NJAC Case, and offers a critique of the Supreme Court’s analysis of comparative law in judicial appointments. The essay argues that the Supreme Court adopted an isolationist approach by shunning international experience from fifteen countries cited before it by the Union of India to drive home the point that executive presence in judicial appointments does not, by itself, impinge upon judicial independence. The author contests the Supreme Court’s cursory dismissal of relevant international experience on the ground that India, with its peculiar set of circumstances cannot replicate the experiences of other nations in judicial appointments. The author argues that this is self-serving and the judgment would have been better served by a surer grasp of comparative law and its rationales.

Supreme Courts in the 21st Century: should organisation follow the function?

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 125-139
Author(s):  
Alan Uzelac
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Special Functions ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Organisational Structures ◽  
Per Capita

The text discusses different aspects connected with organisation of supreme courts. It argues that the focus should be shifted to the “how” question. If the supreme courts aspire to fulfil certain special functions, a necessary precondition towards fulfilling this goal entails appropriate organisational structures, means and personnel. The organisation, framework and methods of work of a supreme court should reflect the functions that it is supposed to serve. Although most supreme courts have staff, departments and offices that are entrusted with legal research and analysis, the rise in importance of international jurisprudence is putting on the agenda the need for restructuring and reinforcing the existing departments. The author claims that supreme courts are becoming less and less self-centred in their adjudication, which requires legal research of international and comparative law. The text also deals with other aspects of supreme courts’ organisation. For instance, it shifts focus towards the relation between the number of judges in a supreme court and its impact on the uniformity of jurisprudence. It also emphasises the need to further examine the relation between the number of judges per capita and the efficiency of the court’s work.

scholarly journals Attacks on genetic privacy via uploads to genealogical databases

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D Edge ◽  
Graham Coop
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Information ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Genetic Privacy ◽  
Direct To Consumer ◽  
Multiple Datasets ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genetics Services

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetics services are increasingly popular, with tens of millions of customers. Several DTC genealogy services allow users to upload genetic data to search for relatives, identified as people with genomes that share identical by state (IBS) regions. Here, we describe methods by which an adversary can learn database genotypes by uploading multiple datasets. For example, an adversary who uploads approximately 900 genomes could recover at least one allele at SNP sites across up to 82% of the genome of a median person of European ancestries. In databases that detect IBS segments using unphased genotypes, approximately 100 falsified uploads can reveal enough genetic information to allow genome-wide genetic imputation. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration in the GEDmatch database, and we suggest countermeasures that will prevent the exploits we describe.

Genetics and the Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Mehlman ◽  
Sonia Suter
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Testing ◽  
Genetic Information ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Genomic Analysis ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Genetic Privacy ◽  
Duty To Warn ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
The Us

This chapter examines state and federal laws in the United States that govern legal and ethical issues concerning genetic and genomic analysis for diagnostic purposes; regulation of genetic testing, genetic discrimination, and privacy; and clinical applications of genomics. At the state level, legislatures have enacted laws in various areas, including newborn screening and nondiscrimination and privacy protections. In addition, state courts have addressed some issues concerning genetics, such as the duty to warn. At the federal level, the US Congress has enacted a specific statute, the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act, which protects genetic information. Other federal statutes, which do not address genetics or genomics in particular, also have relevance in the genetics context, including laws that protect against certain forms of discrimination or that regulate laboratories. Federal agencies also play a role, for example, in protecting genetic privacy or regulating genetic tests. Finally, the US Constitution is relevant to genomics, especially concerning reproductive rights, which are pertinent to reproductive genetic testing.

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