Majority Floor Leader
24th District / Ohio Senate
SenateBuilding
Room 129, Ground Floor
Columbus, Ohio43215
(614) 466-8056
/ Committees:
Transportation, Commerce and Labor, Vice Chair
Energy & Natural Resources
Finance
Finance – Corrections Subcommittee
Government Oversight and Reform
Public Utilities
Rules and Reference
Sponsor Testimony for Senate Bill 28
Senate Health and Human Services Committee
November 18, 2015
Honorable Chairperson Jones, Vice Chair Lehner, Ranking Member Tavares and members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee:
I thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on Senate Bill 28. This legislation creates a survey of all Medical Examiners across the state of Ohio to determine whether there are any protocols in place for processing blood and tissue for genetic testing. The survey will also study the capabilities of the offices of the Medical Examiners across the state for storing flash frozen tissue samples and blood samples; develop a list of entities (companies, universities, etc.) in the state of Ohio who perform genetic testing and catalogue the availability of the tests for the use of interested parties; develop a system by which families are given information that they can request testing following the unexplained death of a loved one; protocol could be reviewed regularly and approved by the Ohio State Medical Board.
An inquiry into autopsy protocol at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s office revealed that no tissue samples are routinely saved, that there is no specific protocol for preserving samples of any kind for genetic testing of a decedent, and the expertise for handling DNA analysis largely pertains to forensic analysis. This inquiry highlighted a serious deficiency in the operations of Medical Examiner’s office.
This legislation provides a more accurate, efficient, and accountable methods of genetic testing, and genetic information collection. Currently, no tissue samples are routinely saved, with very little protocol for how to save such samples. There is no specific procedure for preserving samples of any kind for genetic testing of a decedent. There is expertise for handling DNA analysis and related genetic analysis, but it is related to forensic analysis, and not specifically for genetic testing.
Please allow me to share a story with you that makes this topic extremely personal for me, and gives a very good representation of why genetic testing can be life-saving and extremely important to not just a single person, but an entire family’s health.
My son, a healthy 30-year-old police officer collapsed suddenly during a chase. At autopsy he was found to have Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM). This was found through histology (microscopic exam). There is potential that he shares this genetic predisposition with his siblings and his child. His tissue samples were obtained from the coroner and were preserved in formalin as well as a blood sample. However, the samples were sent to a genetics lab where they were deemed unsuitable for genetic analysis because of the methods by which they were preserved. Without knowledge of the genetic pre-disposition it is impractical to test his relatives.
Enacting this legislation will allow for critically more useful processes and procedures at the coroner’s office, and allow for potential lifesaving research to be available.
Through the use of postmortem genetic testing hereditary disease can be greatly mitigated. By requiring coroner’s to collect, retain, and submit blood and tissue samples for postmortem genetic testing lives of family members, as well as people suffering from similar conditions or diseases can be saved.
Enacting this legislation will allow for critically more useful processes and procedures at the coroner’s office, and allow for potential lifesaving research to be available.
In closing, I would like to reiterate the impact that this legislation can have on lives. Rare and certain disease that can be passed to children through genetics can only be highlighted, or known of, through such genetic testing processes. For a genetic test to be unavailable due to genetic samples being mishandled because of a lack of protocol and procedure is unacceptable and a simple fix that the Ohio Senate should seriously consider.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you will join me in supporting this legislation. At this time, I would be happy to answer any questions.