CAP TODAY Pathology/Laboratory Medicine/Laboratory Management
Our relatively low profile makes it that much more important that each of us educate colleagues and legislators about pathology’s unique workforce needs. To that end, it is always helpful to have a “news hook”—something to get the conversation started. The recent Supreme Court decision on gene patents gives us that news hook, one indirectly tied to the pressures on our workforce pipeline.
On June 13, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its unanimous decision in Association for Molecular Pathology, et al v. Myriad Genetics. I like a 9–0 vote, especially when it favors our position, and the College was a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. The justices invalidated many claims within the patents held by Myriad Genetics on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and their naturally occurring mutations. The underlying principle the court cited—that human genes cannot be patented because they are products of nature—is fundamental to the important research that drives genomic medicine.
This Supreme Court decision has renewed excitement around the development of promising new genetic tests and companion diagnostics for targeted therapeutics. Media coverage of the court case drew attention to the importance of genetics and, by extension, pathologists, who manage clinical testing that enables diagnosis and enlightens treatment choices. As these new technologies emerge, we will need more pathologists who are trained in their use, but that training will not be funded if its value is not understood.
Genomic medicine, already moving from the research setting to clinical relevance, has the potential to become a cornerstone of medical testing, treatment, and clinical integration. Getting there will require an integrated understanding of genomic variants and sharing of data from many other sources, such as clinical labs, outcomes research, and population studies, which are expensive but extremely useful. This is why we continue to press for fair payment for not only well-established molecular services but also clinical tests using next-generation sequencing.
Three bills pending in Congress would expand funding for graduate medical education for demonstrated shortage specialties as well as primary care. Two bills are before the House: H.R. 1190, The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2013, introduced by Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), and H.R. 1201, Training Tomorrow’s Doctors Today Act, introduced by Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.). Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) and senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have introduced similar legislation, S. 577, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2013. Please contact your legislators and ask them to support these bills. Tell them that the federal Health Resources and Services Administration has designated pathology as a shortage specialty. Describe the impending retirement cliff in the context of exploding developments in promising technologies and the continuing need to meet our traditional responsibilities in service to all patients and medical specialties. Then ask them to support these bills.
Dr. Robboy welcomes communication from CAP members. Send your letters to him at president@cap.org.