Monopolizing Our Bodies? The Myriad Supreme Court Case and Issues of Access and Justice

The actress Angelina Jolie’s disclosure that she had a double mastectomy in 2013 shed a great deal of attention on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. This disclosure was made concurrently with the June 13, 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. The court held unanimously that naturally occurring DNA segment was a product of nature and thus not patent eligible but that complementary DNA (cDNA) was patent eligible. Now with the dismantling of Myriad’s patent monopoly on the genetic test, issues of access remain but the response of Myriad to develop a financial assistance program illustrates how influential the case may be in changing behavior. Improving accessibility to such tests while still incentivizing the creators of new technologies is a difficult balance to strike. It is one, however, that must be achieved.