News
OK Alpha Featured in NYU Article on Genetic Discrimination
Alpha-1 Association support group leader Dennis Pollack of Oklahoma is featured in an article about genetic discrimination—aptly titled “Life Without GINA”—on Scienceline.org, a project of New York University’s (NYU) Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program.
Dennis Pollock has not gone so far as to tell his children to lie—if they are asked about their family history, they have to say that they are carriers for a genetic disease nicknamed alpha-1. But Pollock says there is no need to volunteer the information. He is worried that their insurance companies or future employers may discriminate against them. This concern about genetic discrimination is a fear a lot of us live with, he says.
Pollock saw seven doctors before correctly being diagnosed with alpha-1, and he ultimately needed a double lung transplant. He now runs an Alpha-1 Association support group in Oklahoma and says he is fortunate to have kept his insurance the entire time. However, Pollock is worried about his own children, as well as the families he talks with. “I’m sure I want them to do what they need to with their lives,” he says, and he wants them to be their own health advocates…
