Description
Collection contains the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS) records. The SACGHS was chartered
in 2003 in the Office of Biotechnology Activities, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), as the successor to the Secretary's
Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing (SACGT), to provide policy advice to the Department of Health and Human Services on
a broad array of medical, ethical, legal, and social issues raised by the development and use of genetic technologies. Issues
suggested by the charter included: assessing how genetic technologies are being integrated into health care and public health;
studying the clinical, ethical, legal, and societal implications of new medical applications, such as preimplantation genetic
diagnosis, and emerging technological approaches to clinical testing; identifying opportunities and gaps in research and data
collection efforts; exploring the potential misuse of genetics in bioterrorism; examining current patent policy and licensing
practices for their impact on access to genetic technologies; analyzing uses of genetic information in education, employment,
insurance (including health, disability, long-term care, and life), and law (including family, immigration, and forensics);
and serving as a public forum for discussion of emerging scientific, ethical, legal, and social issues raised by genetic technologies.
The Committee's inaugural meeting was 11-12 June 2003. Edward R.B. McCabe served as Committee Chair from 2003-2004.