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A few weeksย into sixth grade, Colman Chadam had to leave school because of his DNA.
The situation, odd as it may sound, played out like this. Colman has genetic markers for cystic fibrosis, and kids with the inherited lung disease canโt be near each other because theyโre vulnerable to contagious infections. Two siblings with cystic fibrosis also attended Colmanโs middle school in Palo Alto, California in 2012. So Colman was out, even though he didnโt actually have the disease, according to a lawsuit that his parents filed against the school district. The allegation? Genetic discrimination.
Yes, genetic discrimination. Get used to those two words together, because theyโre likely to become a lot more common. With DNA tests now cheap and readily available, the number of people getting tests has gone way up โ along with the potential for discrimination based on the results. When Colmanโs school tried to transfer him based on his genetic status, the lawsuit alleges, the district violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and Colmanโs First Amendment right to privacy. โThis is the test case,โ says the Chadamโs lawyer, Stephen Jaffe.
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To experts in genetics law, four letters are conspicuously missing from the legal wrangling: GINA, or the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. GINA bars genetic discrimination in just two cases: employment or health insurance. That obviously doesnโt include getting education and housing and plenty of other situation where discrimination might happen.
Read full, original post:ย DNA got a kid kicked out of schoolย โ and it’ll happen again
