BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

Senators call for HHS probe into CMS genetic testing payments to Chinese-linked companies

June 11, 2019 12:33 AM UTC

Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have asked the HHS inspector general to investigate payments made by CMS to U.S. genetic testing companies that are partnered with companies that have ties to Beijing.

In a letter to Acting Inspector General Joanne Chiedi, Grassley and Rubio cited a February IG report on national security risks connected to sharing genomic data that identifies China as the primary source of those risks. The lawmakers noted that the report raised concerns that NIH gave access to U.S. genomic data to for-profit companies from China, including WuXi Nextcode Genomics Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and BGI Group unit BGI Genomics Co. Ltd. (SZSE:300676)...