Only about a dozen Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act cases have been brought since the law's establishment in 2008, Bloomberg Law reports.
US President George W. Bush signed GINA into law in 2008, saying at the time that "it protects our citizens from having genetic information misused." In particular, the law prohibits employers and health insurance companies from using individuals' genetic information in employment or coverage decisions.
The University of Louisville's Mark Rothstein tells Bloomberg Law that one of the reasons why there have been few GINA cases brought since then is that employers would have to know about an employee's genetic predisposition to a disease without the disease yet manifesting. Once someone is ill, he says a claim would likely fall under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
While this might make it seem GINA is a "non-factor" as an anti-discrimination statute, Bloomberg Law writes that it actually seems to be working as a privacy law. Employers, Jessica Roberts from the University of Houston tells Bloomberg Law, can't misuse data they don't have.