Newswise — DANVILLE, Pa. – Geisinger Health System’s chief scientific officer believes Thursday’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling that human genes cannot be patented is a win for scientists and doctors, but most importantly a major victory for patients.
David H. Ledbetter, PhD, FACMG – a plaintiff in the case – said the decision struck down major barriers to patient care and medical innovation.
“This ruling is going to improve access, reduce costs, and allow for innovation that wouldn't have happened otherwise,” Dr. Ledbetter said. “This will be one of those wonderful occurrences in medicine where we improve quality and reduce costs simultaneously and immediately.”
The high court's ruling specifically threw out patents previously held by Myriad Genetics Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company that had patented a genetic test for two BRCA genes associated with increased risks for breast and ovarian cancers.
Dr. Ledbetter was one of the first individual genetics experts to sign on as a plaintiff in the historical case when approached by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) prior to their filing. Additional plaintiffs include the Association of Molecular Pathologists (AMP) and other medical professional associations, on behalf of researchers, patients and women's health groups.
“Fourteen years ago, I sat on the board of directors of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and we wrote a clear and strong position statement that said genes should not be patentable because they occur in nature and naturally occurring substances should not be patented,” Dr. Ledbetter stated, a principle shared by the nation’s highest court.
"We hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated," said Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the court's unanimous decision.
“Genetic test monopolies are bad for a variety of reasons,” Dr. Ledbetter added. “There’s no incentive for companies to improve the quality of tests or offer them cheaper. Myriad had maintained a private database and withheld data from the international scientific community which shares data to better understand mutations in order to accelerate clinical research and provide patients the best treatment approach.”
“Yesterday was a pretty big day,” he said.
About David H. Ledbetter, PhD, FACMGDr. Ledbetter is Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Geisinger Health System. He came to Geisinger from Atlanta’s Emory University School of Medicine where he was the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Director of the Division of Medical Genetics in the Department of Human Genetics. Dr. Ledbetter previously held academic and leadership positions at the University of Chicago, the National Center for Human Genome Research (now NHGRI) at NIH and Baylor College of Medicine. He is a graduate of Tulane University and earned his doctorate at the University of Texas-Austin. After his early discovery of the genetic cause of Prader-Willi syndrome and Miller-Dieker syndrome, Dr. Ledbetter has focused his research efforts on discovering the underlying etiology of childhood developmental disabilities such as autism, and the translation of new genomics technologies into clinically useful genetic tests for early diagnosis and intervention.His current research interest includes leveraging the massive amount of genomics data generated during routine patient care for knowledge generation and integration of this information into electronic health records in a clinically useful manner.About Geisinger Health System
Geisinger Health System is an integrated health services organization widely recognized for its innovative use of the electronic health record, and the development of innovative care models such as ProvenHealth Navigator® and ProvenCare®. As the nation’s largest rural health services organization, Geisinger serves more than 2.6 million residents throughout 44 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. The physician-led system is comprised of more than 19,000 employees, including a 1,000-member multi-specialty group practice, six hospital campuses, two research centers and a 413,000-member health plan, all of which leverage an estimated $6.1 billion positive impact on the Pennsylvania economy. The health system and the health plan have repeatedly garnered national accolades for integration, quality and service. In addition to fulfilling its patient care mission, Geisinger has a long-standing commitment to medical education, research and community service. For more information, visit www.geisinger.org, or follow the latest Geisinger news and more on Twitter and Facebook.
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