Last week President Bush signed the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (or GINA) which the LAF endorsed and supported. The law is intended to protect individuals from employers or insurance companies misusing his or her genetic information. The passing of this law is a huge landmark in moving forward with targeted therapeutics and personalized medicine. But, most people probably didn’t go out and read the bill right away. So for those who want a summary, the Genetics and Public Policy Center has provided one that outlines what rights you have and what the bill does and does not protect.

In our next…

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Today a new effort was launched to help facilitate the goal of making cancer a national priority. This is the first of its kind event in the cancer community where all the major television networks have come together to provide a show that will air in primetime on September 5, 2008. The show is called Stand Up to Cancer and it will have an enormous impact on focusing our attention on this disease which ultimately will lead to better outcomes.

Close friend, acclaimed movie producer, and cancer survivor Laura Ziskin is producing this show with many partners involved. Laura is a hero…

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Friends, ’simply had to share Jonathan Alter’s must-read Newsweek piece this morning. It’s touching to see Hamilton Jordan, the LAF’s dear friend and board member whom we lost last week, remembered so eloquently. He was working for the cause right to the very end, clearly, still spreading the word. And God knows Alter’s take on Kennedy and the pressure on the Senate to act on his coming cancer legislation sums the situation up quite accurately.

Katherine

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Great news from the White House. President George W. Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act into law yesterday.

Genetic technologies can help clinicians identify individuals who may be at higher risk of developing certain cancers and propose medical interventions to prevent cancer from ever occurring. They can also be used in personalized medicine strategies to identify people who may be more likely to respond to a particular therapy or drug dose and tailor a treatment strategy to that person.

Unfortunately, cancer survivors are at increased risk of experiencing discrimination from employers and insurers. Many fear the misuse of genetic information which can…

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I can’t say this any better or more eloquently than Doug did so I won’t try.

Hamilton was a special man. He was a passionate man. He was a tough man. He was a smart and wise man. In the 10 years that I knew him, and the 11 that I’ve known this damn disease, I never met someone who shed as many tears of frustration over this issue. Tears of political frustration, tears that lack of progress bring, tears that knowing that these two roadblocks would likely take his very own life someday. So I shed my own in his…

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