Posted 2/08/2010 05:45:00 PM by Douglas

More on the fallout of unconsented baby blood:

A critical safety net for babies — that heelprick of blood taken from every newborn — is facing an ethics attack.

After those tiny blood spots are tested for a list of devastating diseases, some states are storing them for years. Scientists consider the leftover samples a treasure, both to improve newborn screening and to study bigger questions, like which environmental toxins can harm a fetus' developing heart or which genes trigger childhood cancers.

But seldom are parents asked to consent to such research — most probably don't know it occurs — raising privacy concerns that are shaking up one of public health's most successful programs. Texas is poised to throw away blood samples from more than 5 million babies to settle a lawsuit from parents angry at what they call secret DNA warehousing. A judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit in Minnesota.

You really don't have to be a conspiracy theorist for this to sound like a horrible, horrible idea.

"DNA is your personal signature, and it uniquely identifies us," Puck says. "We all have to become more careful and more specific in terms of what we're going to do with the blood spots."

Well, duh. And by "careful" how 'bout refusing to submit them? The government is going to extract some of your babies precious bodily fluid and you don't get a say?