Is the NIH policy for sharing GWAS data running the risk of being counterproductive?

Through their current policy on data sharing, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are inadvertently placing a serious and potentially insuperable burden upon non-US researchers who perform patient-based genomics studies in collaboration with US institutions. Because this policy could adversely affect future transnational scientific collaborations, we explore some of its likely consequences and suggest possible courses of remedial action wherever feasible.