Unregistered

I have been in the cancer business for over 15 years and am very familiar with Myriad and their BRCA testing. First off, 60 minutes has had a very biased slant on the company. (Look at their episodes from back in 2001.) Myriad does not "own" the gene or genes, just the abilities to replicate for testing or additional "research" without consent. There many academic and research institutions that have the ability to run their own tests on these genes in house. As far as who can order the test--Any physician can order the test for their pt. and most insurances will cover the cost of the test (as little as +/-$300 and up to $3000) if it is medically necessary. (Most insurances adhere to the NCCN guidelines.) This is not a test for the 62 year old women who gets breast cancer with no family history. I know many surgeons who order this test routinely as part of the inital work up on a pt---if the pt. is under 50 regardless of family history.

Finally, what many fail to acknowledge is that many academics "own" genes as well. But b/c they are not a public company that is traded on Wall Street it is OK. If it was not for the Wall Street financing of Myriad who knows when the genes would have been discovered. $3,000 is expensive for a test, but considering the results and the power/knowledge that they offer for the indivisual and the families involved it is not that bad. It is much cheaper than the chemo regimines that are offered by Big Pharma and there is little outlash from 60 Minutes on that.