September 19, 2008, 7:12 pm
Why Sergey Brin May Have Disclosed His Risk for Parkinson’s
By Miguel Helft
The Google co-founder Sergey Brin on Thursday disclosed that he carried a genetic mutation that gave him a higher-than-average risk of contracting Parkinson’s disease.
When I called medical experts and financial analysts for comment, the first question I got was: “Why would he disclose that?” They pointed out that since Mr. Brin is disease-free, may never get the disease, and even if he gets it, could likely function at a high level for many years, there was no need to inform shareholders or anyone else.
Mr. Brin declined to be interviewed. But my colleague Allen Salkin had some insights into one of Mr. Brin’s possible motives. Allen chatted with Mr. Brin at a New York party on Sept. 9 to promote 23andMe, the DNA-testing company of which Mr. Brin’s wife, Anne Wojcicki, is a co-founder. During their conversation, Mr. Brin said it could be useful to have one’s DNA code open to the public, where it could follow a sort of open-source model. If his data was public, he said, doctors — or anyone who was interested — could look at his results and make suggestions about how he should handle them, offering treatment suggestions if it showed he might be susceptible to a disease.
“I figure if I put it out there, people would look at it and I’d learn something I need to know sooner than if I hadn’t put it out there,” Mr. Brin told Allen. He also said he would soon start to blog about his DNA.
As of now, if Mr. Brin has received any advice, it is not widely known. The comments section of his blog remains empty.
This was the only response posted
Advice?
When I saw the mention of his disclosure, I figured it was just a way to publicize 23andme. For a zillionaire, who cares what you tell people - it won’t really impact your wealth in any significant way. For the average person, telling people publicly facts about yourself that suggest a health risk is a sure fire way to limit your economic future either by discouraging potential employers from hiring you or by leading insurers to charge you more for medical or life insurance. It really is never a good thing to publicly disclose medial records of any sort. Aside from being a bit of an odd thing to do in my book, it will never help you in any way and could well hurt you financially.
— G Stauffer
This was my response
There is more to Parkinson's than a career or financial viability. When one has to choose between life and stock options, the choice is obvious. So little is know about the disease that any gesture to increase awareness and/or open up new research avenues is a blessing.
Since Mr. Brin doesn't have to worry about things like health insurance or getting a job, he has the liberty to become an advocate. It's a rare opportunity that few of us will ever see: having the stature and visibility to spot light a disease that kills and debilitates too many people.
Watching someone deteriorate from it over time is like watching death in slow motion. Any effort to stop or reverse it deserves serious consideration.
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