On April 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States
will hear a landmark case on the patentability of genes linked to hereditary
breast and ovarian cancer.
To raise public awareness on the issues involved, the
documentary In the Family – which helped spark the original case – will be streamed
online for free to coincide with the hearing. In the film
director/producer Joanna Rudnick tells her story of discovering she carries the
BRCA gene mutation. She interviews other cancer “pre-vivors,” and in doing so
is led to Myriad Genetics, sole patent holder of the BRCA genes and sole
provider of genetic testing for mutations in the genes.
In the Family will be
exclusively streamed online at http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthefamily, launching with the Supreme Court hearing of the ACLU’s challenge
to the BRCA genes on April 15, 2013 for 30 days (through May 15, 2013),
followed by a second streaming window of 30 days around when the verdict is
announced (June 2013).
Rudnick’s exposing video interview with Myriad’s founder
Mark Skolnick – in which she questions why the cost of the test is going up
despite advances in technology – remains the only on-camera comment Myriad has
given on these issues since the case was launched.
Posts
