Thomas Goetz is executive editor at Wired Magazine and author of the new book, "The Decision Tree: Taking Control of Your Health In the New Era of Personalized Medicine."
2. (or, how a young man
from Harvey, Illinois
made it to the NBA,
outwitted the Chicago
Bulls, and paved the way
for genetic privacy, only
to be undone by hubris)
Eddy Curry was drafted by chicago bulls in 2001– promising athlete “franchise player”
In 2005 playoffs in north carolina before a game with the charlotte hornets felt his heart racing – could it be HCM?
Caused alarm because in recent years two other players have had sudden bouts of HCM & died on the court
Spent months considering options - finally
Curry was sent all over the country to get tests, spent summer getting worked up – verdict: healthy, but…
When the next NBA season came around in September 2005, the Bulls offered Curry a new $5 million contract, with one condition attached: He had to test his DNA. he could take the test If he didn’t have the genetic mutation for HCM, he could take the contract and play with the team. If he did have the mutation, he'd have to quit basketball
As far as bulls concerned, he had 2 choices: take test or quit.
But curry’s deicison tree was actually different than that: he had a third choice – he could quit the bulls, if he could find a team that would take him w/o a DNA test.
Question for curry boiled down to privacy - & indeed raised broader questions about employers compelling DNA tests. No protections.
Finally he got an offer from the NY Knicks - $TK M & no test.
Seemed he’d outwitted system & triumphed
So here’s where he stood
Curry was an eater
His weight had ballooned from a listed weight of 285 to as much as 360 lbs – 6 foot 11 – but still – that’s big.
curry may’ve been minding his DNA, but he wasn’t’ minding the other component of his decision tree, a much larger component – his behavior.
In summer 2009, after miserable season knicks sent him to a fat camp – didn’t work, at end of 2010 season knee problems had benched him TK - result
GINA - -employers & insurers cannot demand DNA or discriminate on basis of genetic information.