TEACHERS FOR CHOICE 100% Vindicated in our first lawsuit
by Michael Kane
12-10-21
If someone told you the mayor of New York City forced all school staff and students to give their DNA specimens to a laboratory with links to the Chinese government, you would think it was the plot of a bad B-movie.
Unfortunately it is the reality in NYC under Mayor Bill de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union.
De Blasio contracted with “Fulgent Genetics” to perform covid testing in NYC Schools for the 2020 school year. The tests were mandatory and if you didn’t consent employees were placed on unpaid leave and students were kicked out of their school buildings.
However Fulgent’s primary business is not diagnostic testing. Their main business is collecting DNA specimens for their proprietary libraries. And according to Sherrif Alex Villanueva of the Los Angeles County Police Department, Fulgent states right on their website that, “I also give permission for my specimen and clinical information to be used in de-identified studies at Fulgent and for publication, if appropriate.” (emphasis added)
Villanueva continues in his letter: “I was shocked to learn Fulgent had strong ties with BGI, WuXi, and Huwaei Technology, all of which are linked to the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) State Council and are under the control of the PRC.” Villanueva also reveals that the Chinese government has the legal right to seize any property from any of these companies – including DNA samples.
Moreover Sherriff Villanueva discloses in his letter that the FBI held an emergency briefing to share all of their concerns regarding Fulgent Genetics links to the Chinese Government and how American DNA samples from LA’s police department may find their way to the Chinese Government itself.
TEACHERS FOR CHOICE Was 100% Right to Sue!
I am astonished at just how correct I was to distrust Fulgent Genetics when they came into the NYC School system back in August of 2020. On September 13, 2020 I published the following headline at http://www.TeachersForChoice.org
Did NYC & UFT Sell Our DNA without our permission?
We bombarded Mayor de Blasio as well as UFT President Michael Mulgrew with hundreds of emails and phone calls asking this question. We received absolutely no response from anyone. I was shocked! I had assumed my union – the UFT, which I had paid dues to for over 13 years at that point – was going to contact me right away to reassure that no such breach of my privacy rights had occurred or would occur (but that didn’t happen).
We were forced to sue NYC Schools in the case KANE vs NYC DOE, which we eventually won. The brilliant Michael Sussman represented us winning a court-ordered stipulation that required the specimens given during in-school covid testing to be destroyed after a positive or negative covid result was obtained. We also made sure to add that Fulgent cannot “replicate or make any other use of” our specimens. As the lead plaintiff in that case I advocated strongly to have that piece of language added to the stipulation, and now that we have confirmation that Fulgent does, in fact, use specimens in de-identified studies, I am extremely happy this language made it into the final wording as a legally enforceable contract.
What this means is in NYC Schools Fulgent Genetics cannot apply their policy of using specimens for other purposes. However throughout the rest of the country, in all of their other contracts, Fulgent can do whatever they want with the specimens they collect. Unfortunately this may mean the Chinese government will have access to your DNA if you utilized any Fulgent Genetics covid testing.
If you feel you need to get a covid test, you must first find out what laboratory and/or companies are involved or you might be signing away the privacy rights to your own genetic material.
Learn more about TEACHERS FOR CHOICE’s fight against Fulgent Genetics in NYC Schools HERE
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Download Sherriff Villanueva’s letter here:file_9989-1Download