Privacy Concerns Raised by Infant Blood Samples

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Newborns' Blood Samples Are Used for Research Without Parents' Consent

By Rob Stein
Washington Post June 30, 2009

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, MN. "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.

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