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Senate Backs Genetic Privacy Bill

Senate Backs Genetic Privacy Bill
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 -- The Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass the first federal bill aimed exclusively at safeguarding genetic privacy, ending six years of legislative gridlock.

The White House announced that it supported the measure, which would bar companies from using genetic information to deny health coverage or employment.

Scientists and advocates for patients have been working for years to pass such a bill, which they say will encourage millions of people to have genetic testing without fear of discrimination. Dr. Francis S. Collins, a leader in mapping the human genome, watched from the gallery as the senators voted, 95 to 0.

"It's been a long and difficult road," said Dr. Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. "You could say this is a bill for people with D.N.A."

The insurance industry opposes the legislation, and the bill faces an uncertain future in the House, where Representative Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, has been working on a similar measure since 1995. Mrs. Slaughter joined with the Senate supporters of the bill in urging the House to pass the measure immediately.