Contact:
Pender M. McCarter, APR, Fellow PRSA, MIPRA IEEE-USA
Seeks Safeguards Against WASHINGTON (26 August 2002) — IEEE-USA supports the introduction of additional safeguards into currently drafted legislation or a tightening of current Health and Human Services privacy regulations to protect against the misuse of genetic and other health information by employers that could lead to unfair discrimination in the workplace, according to Frank Ferrante, chair of the organization’s Medical Technology Policy Committee (MTPC). Ferrante cited a position of the MTPC adopted by IEEE-USA’s Board of Directors on 20 August. According to the IEEE-USA Board, under certain circumstances, employers should be restricted from requiring, requesting, collecting, purchasing or otherwise obtaining health information about an individual or the individual’s family members because such practices could result in unfair discrimination in the workplace. IEEE-USA stated that permission for obtaining health information should be based on whether the requested information is related to a job position, required to support workplace health and safety monitoring, and necessary for other health research activities — for which the employer should only receive aggregate data, not revealing the identity of individual employees. According to IEEE-USA, employers now are able to obtain unrestricted access to an individual’s heath information by requiring that an applicant sign a general medical release following a conditional offer of employment. If the conditional offer is withdrawn, the organization held, an “individual usually has no legal right to an explanation of the reason for withdrawal.” IEEE-USA took special note of the lack of protections against employment discrimination based on sensitive health information relating to an individual’s genes. It argued “the current situation discourages the public from seeking out the benefits of genetic testing and impedes the widespread adoption of genetics technologies and the advancement of genetics research.” Further, the organization recommended that employers obtain voluntary written consent from individuals who are requested to undergo medical tests and measurements. IEEE-USA would put the burden of proof on the employer to specify the following: purpose of the test or measurement; details of the analyses to be performed; applicable privacy policies and possible ramifications of the test results; details regarding the storage and destruction of test samples; process for gaining access to test results and correcting errors in records; and proof of the testing program’s compliance with applicable government regulations. The organization would also add safeguards against discrimination in employment decision-making where an individual's health information may be a contributing factor. According to IEEE-USA, employers should be required to inform an applicant in writing of the reason for retracting a conditional offer of employment. In addition, IEEE-USA would restrict employers from making employment-related decisions based on health “except in cases where that information is necessary to support workplace health and safety or to demonstrate an individual’s ability to perform a specific job.” Finally, the organization urged economic incentives be minimized that encourage employers to obtain non-job-related health information for use in their employment decision-making, such as in the determination of group health insurance rates. IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and was created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org. 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202 Washington, DC 20036-5104 Phone: 202-785-0017, Fax: 202-785-0835 | Top of Page | News Releases | IEEE News | IEEE | IEEE-USA | Last Updated: 26
August 2002 |