Released: June 30, 2009

Blood samples raise privacy questions

Source: Rob Stein, Washington Post (Free Registration)

Matthew Brzica and his wife hardly noticed when the hospital took a few drops of blood from each of their four newborn children for routine genetic testing. But then they discovered that the state had kept the dried blood samples ever since—and was making them available to scientists for medical research.

“They’re just taking DNA from young kids right out of the womb and putting it into a warehouse,” said Brzica, of Victoria, Minn. “DNA is what makes us who we are. It’s just not right.”

The couple is among a group of parents challenging Minnesota’s practice of storing babies’ blood samples and allowing researchers to study them without their permission. The confrontation, and a similar one in Texas, has focused attention on the practice at a time when there is increasing interest in using millions of these collected “blood spots” to study diseases.

Read Full Article: Blood samples raise privacy questions