PRESS RELEASES
MEDIA
RELEASE
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
For Immediate Release
CCHC
Releases New Report:
NEWBORN
GENETIC SCREENING:
The New Eugenics?
State
genetic registries, State warehousing of newborn DNA, and the published
concerns of professionals underscore the pressing need for informed
parent consent
requirements for all facets of newborn genetic screening.
Minneapolis/Saint Paul – The Citizens' Council on Health Care
has
released a new
report that
demonstrates evidence and concerns about the extension of eugenics into
State newborn screening programs. Today, many States are expanding
testing, creating State genetic registries and using
newborn blood and DNA to develop new tests for more comprehensive
genomic screening of newborns at birth.
"To protect every American's right to self-determination, genetic
privacy, and DNA property rights, it is time to require informed
written parent consent for all facets of the newborn genetic screening
program, including storage
and use of genetic test results and newborn DNA," said Twila Brase,
president of Citizens' Council on Health Care, and author of the report.
Most States do not require parent consent for newborn genetic testing
or for government retention of newborn genetic test results and baby
DNA. Some States have now begun to retain each baby's test results and
DNA indefinitely for research. Most parents have no idea that
government is doing the testing or retaining the data and DNA.
The new CCHC report begins with two quotes, the first from a December
2008 report, The Changing Moral Focus of Newborn Screening: An
Ethical Analysis by The President's Council on Bioethics and the
second from Frederick Osborn, the former president of the American
Eugenics Society, who wrote in 1946:
“Population, genetics, psychology, are the three
sciences to which the eugenist must look for the factual material on
which to build an acceptable philosophy of eugenics and to
develop and defend practical eugenics proposals" (taken from War
Against the Weak, New York Times-besting selling author,
Edwin Black).
"It is important for policymakers to look beyond the current newborn
screening programs which test infants for only 21 to 60-some rare
genetic conditions. Supporters of newborn
screening appear to be planning for full genomic scans on every baby at
birth,"said Brase.
Contact:
Twila Brase, RN, PHN
President
651-646-8935
- CCHC -
Citizens' Council on Health Care supports
freedom for patients and doctors, medical
innovation, and the right to a confidential patient-doctor
relationship.
# # #
Citizens' Council on Health Care is a non-profit, independent health care policy organization that supports free-market ideas in health care.
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