HNPCC Info

What's the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)? The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, also referred to as GINA, is a new federal law that protects Americans from being treated unfairly because of differences in their DNA that may affect their health. The new law prevents discrimination from health insurers and employers. The President signed the act into federal law on May 21, 2008. The parts of the law relating to health insurers will take effect by May 2009, and those relating to employers will take effect by November 2009. What's genetic discrimination? Genetic discrimination occurs if people are treated unfairly because of differences in their DNA that increase their chances of getting a certain disease. For example, a health insurer might refuse to give coverage to a woman who has a DNA difference that raises her odds of getting breast cancer. Employers also could use DNA information to decide whether to hire or fire workers.

To him who devotes his life to science, nothing can give more happiness than increasing the number of discoveries, but his cup of joy is full when the results of his studies immediately find practical applications. — Louis Pasteur

Even if you have the information, you are a nurse and you want to advocate for better assessment and or screening, you can't get it done. The knowledge might be there but not the values to improve the health care. Even when one is in a position to have some influence. First of all - congrads on the article! I'm not sure exactly where you should start. Were you interested in initially working with a subset of women (e.g. maternity)? If that were the case I'd start perhaps with blank and blank (or whoever is OB chief). If you were thinking of a broader population, perhaps blank would be a good place to start. Just to muddy the waters a little - I totally understand what your mission is and it sounds like a great way of potentially saving lives. On the other hand, keep in mind that everyone is supersensitive to the amount of documentation nsg is required to do and the amount of data collection/assessments that continues to fall on the staff nurse. (I just had this conversation...

I got a call last night from Dr. Aran. He read the article that I did on HNPCC. We discussed how even if you are diagnosed there is no benefit to extra screening or precautions. It didn't help mom or effect the way she was treated. The title of the manuscript is HNPCC: Change the name to protect the innocent.