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- Florida Pathologists, CAP Successfully Amend Genetic Privacy Bill
The Florida Society of Pathologists (FSP), in coordination with the CAP, on March 24, successfully amended genetic privacy legislation (HB 833) in the Florida State House Judiciary Committee that would have made it a criminal felony to unlawfully disclose genetic information. The bill was intended to tighten privacy laws to preclude companies from commercializing consumer genetic information. To strengthen the profession of pathology nationwide, the CAP works with state pathology societies like the FSP to bolster local advocacy efforts that protect pathologists from increased or unnecessary burdens.
The FSP-CAP backed amendment exempts from the legislation DNA samples used for "medical diagnosis and treatment of a patient" when express consent was obtained by the physician who took the specimen or when the analysis was performed by a CLIA certified laboratory. The Florida legislation, and prior Florida law, provides an exclusive patient property right over DNA samples "with regard to the collection, use, retention, maintenance, disclosure, or destruction of such sample or analysis results." The pathology-backed amendment ensured that DNA samples can continue to be used for medical diagnosis and treatment for the benefit of patients, without legal impediment or legal jeopardy to pathologists or CLIA-certified clinical laboratories.