Ryan Staunton
Mr Ippolito
13 March 2017
Core Biology IH
Current Event
In the article, It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test, Sy Mukherjee discusses a house GOP-sponsored bill that is called HR 1313, or the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act. This is a bill that would allow companies to demand your genetic information if passed. If you declined, your health insurance rate could climb up by 30%. This amount would increase by 50% if you are a smoker! It is unsure/unspecified about which genetic information test employees would go through, but it could range anywhere from a simple “23andme” test to a specific diagnostic testing. However, a problem with passing this bill is the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination act.) These acts stop companies from even asking their employees to test for a genetic test.
Improvements in genetic testing are allowing people to be diagnosed early for many different types of cancers to mental disorders. They can even test for the probability of baldness. But with all these improvements, we have to ask ourselves when we’re on infringing other people's privacy, and many people are advocating for the government to protect the rights of citizens, and not to take advantage of these new findings. Many people are comparing the HR 1313 bill similar to a science-fiction movie, Gattaca, a movie that depicts a society where people get their jobs based on their genes. I think it's very important to look at articles where science can impact you directly, and how the government deals with these discoveries.
Overall I found this article very insightful and interesting, but they mainly focus on how this would affect a company or employer, not the science behind this. I also author did a very subpar job at actually explaining the background of the bill. I had to do a lot of outside research to help convey their point, like going directly to congress’ website, and looking up which kits test for diseases. This was probably due to the website not being a site that covers science. I did find that they do an amazing job about the setbacks of this bill. They described how GINA and ADA could possibly prevent this bill. In the future, I would recommend this article to focus on all aspects, like the direct science as well as the already detailed explanation for how it impacts society.
Mukherjee, Sy. "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test." GOP Bill Would Allow Genetic Testing Demands By Employers | Fortune.com. Fortune, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Marina Alfano
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Current Event #5
3/13/17
http://fortune.com/2017/03/10/genetic-testing-workplace-wellness-bill/
Mukherjee, Sy. "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test." GOP Bill Would Allow Genetic Testing Demands By Employers | Fortune.com. Fortune, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
My classmate Ryan Staunton wrote a review on the article called “It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test” and he did an excellent job summarizing the article. I liked how he explained how it would impact people's lives, saying that if you didn’t take the test then your healthcare could drastically increase. He used statistics which is helpful when trying to gain perspective on what he was talking about. Instead of saying “If this declined, your health insurance rate could go up a lot”, he said it could go up by 30%. I also like how he showed the problems with companies forcing genetic testing. He mentioned how the Americans With Disabilities Act, and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act would stop companies from asking or forcing their employees to get genetic testing.
Although his review was well written overall, there were a few flaws in it. I’m not sure if this was in the article, however he didn’t really mention why this would be a good thing and why companies want to perform these tests. It would have been interesting to know why these companies actually want to give genetic testing since his review explains why they shouldn't need it. The second flaw would be that there are a few minor typos and grammar issues but they didn’t affect my understanding of what he was saying.
I chose this article because I think it is very interesting and I have never heard of this before. Since often times when I have free time after school I am doing homework, I don’t have time to catch up on current events and I would have never known this otherwise. I found it crazy that companies would even consider asking their employees to get genetic testing and I am also slightly confused what they would do with that information. I will definitely do more research and read more articles on this topic.
Mukherjee, Sy. "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test." GOP Bill Would Allow Genetic Testing Demands By Employers | Fortune.com. Fortune, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
ReplyDeletehttp://fortune.com/2017/03/10/genetic-testing-workplace-wellness-bill/
My classmate Ryan Staunton summarized and analyzed the article It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test by Sy Mukherjee. The article talks about a bill called HR 1313 otherwise known as the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act. It would permit companies to demand genetic information from a person, which could impact their health insurance rate. The information that would be taken could range from early diagnoses of cancers to mental disorders or even baldness. Ryan did a good job critiquing the article and addressing how it was not very specific when it came to the scientific details of the potential bill. Second, his reasoning as to why such a legal document being passed would be negative for most individuals was also nicely done and persuasive. Finally, he did a good job stressing the overall impact this bill would have on people when he mentioned it could cause people’s healthcare to increase, which is not in most individuals’ interest.
His analysis could have been improved upon by providing more scientific details even if it required outside research since after reading the article I am intrigued. Since genetic testing tends to be expensive and it would have been helpful to the reader to understand the need for it. Additionally, Ryan could have elaborated as to why companies may wish to perform such genetic tests, although it may not have not been mentioned in the article. It would have been useful to the reader since we were left to infer for ourselves.
This article was interesting to me since it is about something that directly impact us as students in the near future when we are entering the workforce. This article also calls to question ethics and how the border between science and privacy is slowly fading. Additionally, this article interested me since people do not always follow the actions which genetics predispose them to do. Also, some individuals may not wish to know what future health dilemmas they will be faced with, therefore companies have no right to invade on their privacy.
Alyssa Lee
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology 10H
20 March 2017
Mukherjee, Sy. "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test." GOP Bill Would Allow Genetic Testing Demands By Employers | Fortune.com. Fortune, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017. http://fortune.com/2017/03/10/genetic-testing-workplace-wellness-bill/
Ryan Staunton, my classmate, reviewed the article “It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test” by Sy Mukherjee. His review provided enough detail for the reader concerning the issue while remaining concise. He uses this skill in presenting the other side of the argument, which is important as to avoid bias. One example of this skill is in the area where he writes about the opposition to this pending bill that would require genetic testing results from workers. Ryan states, “ However, a problem with passing this bill is the ADA and the GINA. These acts stop companies from even asking their employees to test for a genetic test.” Another strong point of Ryan’s review is when he relates the subject of the article to problems that we experience today. Technology advancing rapidly could have detrimental effects on mankind. Ryan explains, “But with all these improvements, we have to ask ourselves when we’re on infringing other people's privacy....” Ryan holds up a mirror to society today, as this issue is only one among many like it today. Ryan did a phenomenal job on his critical analysis of the article. He accurately pinpoints the main problem with it- specifically, the fact that the article is not strictly scientific. Ryan states, “... [the] author did a very subpar job at actually explaining the background of the bill. I had to do a lot of outside research to help convey their point…” He explains how the information offered was not sufficient to understand the science behind the genetic testing, and clearly explains these weaknesses.
Although Ryan’s review was extremely well-written, there are some areas of his review in need of improvement. There was a need for further explanation as to the difference between the ADA and the GINA. Ryan explains that “these acts stop companies from even asking their employees to test for a genetic test”. If both acts were installed to prevent the same issue, why would the government have passed both of them? It would have been helpful if he had made the difference between the two clearer. However, this issue was minor. As the reader, I was puzzled by the much larger issue- what does this article have to do with biology? Although it discussed genetic testing, I did not see much of a connection at all to science. Most of the article was not scientific at all, as Ryan himself mentioned in his review. Ryan comments, “...they mainly focus on how this would affect a company or employer, not the science behind this.” Therefore, although the review itself was quite well-written, the choice of article was somewhat poor. Perhaps an article with more relevance to genetic testing and its mechanics would have been better suited for review in this particular class. Nevertheless, his review was still informative and made for an excellent critique and summary of the article.
This article and review has aided me in learning more about genetic testing and the controversy surrounding it today, as while some believe it is for the welfare of the general populace, others believe that it is an infringement on an individual’s privacy. Although I did not learn too much about the genetic testing process itself, I found it interesting how a product of the evolution of science could impact us in the future. I chose to read this review because I find genetic testing quite interesting due to the fact that my father is a physician who has educated me concerning medical technology; I wanted to see someone else’s ideas on the issue. This review has changed my perception on life as I have considered the effect evolving technology in science will have on humanity as we grow increasingly advanced in our innovations, be it negative or positive.
Catherine Faville
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Bio H
Current event comment
I read a fellow student of mine, Ryans description and analysis of the article “It might soon be legal for employers to Force you into a genetic test” written by Sy Mukherjee. He wrote a really well written rundown of the article. Ryan did a good job going through the details in the text, he explained little details that may have been confusing to the reader, he explains how a bill is being passed so that companies would be allowed to demand your genetic information, and if you refused your health insurance would be increased. He went into thorough detail of what would happen if this law was put into act. He also went into immense detail of the conflict in enacting the this law.
However in his text there is room for improvement, he could have gone into more detail as to why companies would be inclined to want their workers genetics. Also why would they want to know about people's cancer and mental disorders, also if he added more personal thoughts on the matter, it would have made the article and his interpretation better.
This was enjoyable to read because it was a insightful thing to know, if companies plan to in the future require their employees to give them their genetic information, it would be good to know. It was also very insightful as to what might change in the future in job interviews. In addition it gave me more of a opinion on if this new law would be a good or bad thing.
Susie Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Biology
3/31/17
Mukherjee, Sy. "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test." GOP Bill Would Allow Genetic Testing Demands By Employers | Fortune.com. Fortune, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
http://fortune.com/2017/03/10/genetic-testing-workplace-wellness-bill/
Current Events 7
My classmate, Ryan, wrote a great review of the article, “It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force You Into a Genetic Test” by Sy Mukherjee. The article discusses the HR 1313 bill, also known as the Preserving Employee Wellness Act. If passed, it would allow companies to demand your genetic information and if you declined, your health insurance rates with increase dramatically. Ryan explained the downsides and upsides to the article very well. He explains why he liked or didn’t like different aspects of the article using the perfect amount of detail to keep readers intrigued. He also talked about why the bill has not been passed yet. He mentions the ADA and the GINA and the restrictions they place on this topic. Ryan makes the readers think about the bill and what it means for humanity. He explores the amazing things new technology can do, but asks us to contemplate how it will fit in our world and if we should protect our human rights. Ryan wrote a great review of the article with amazing critical analysis.
Despite all the great aspects of this article, there are some parts that could be improved. Ryan added some points of argument for the people who reject this bill, but he doesn’t really explain why companies would want to complete genetic testing on their employees. I would find this interesting because I can’t think of a reason that they would want to do this. Ryan also should talk about how this topic connects to science or the science behind the genetic testing. He mentions in the review that the author did not discuss the relation to science. If a situation like this comes up again, Ryan should choose an article that has more to do with science.
This review was very eye-opening for me because I didn’t know that the government was considering passing such a bill. I think that it is important to think about basic human rights and what violates them in this age of increasingly complex technology. I didn’t know that companies wanted to access the genetic information of their employees, and in the future, I will look for updates on the bill to see what opposition it is facing and if it eventually gets passed.