Class action lawsuits are a fairly decent way of finding out what the latest government scandal is. This month, it's related to claims that the government in Texas has been keeping samples of blood from newborns, and then making them available to researchers without the consent of the parents.
Normally, these blood samples are used to check for a variety of serious medical conditions, including cystic fibrosis. According to the Texas Department of Health Services, this program will allow doctors to identify children with these conditions early in life, and allow them to be treated effectively from a younger age.
Normally, these samples would be kept, but not used without explicit permission. However, do to a loophole in the law, the state government has sold the samples to different companies, without asking for permission from the parents. This is clearly unethical behavior, and the class action lawsuit seeks compensation for those parents who had samples of their child's blood used, without their consent.
But this is not enough. The publicity surrounding the case might make the government more likely to refrain from selling these samples in the future, but it is no guarantee. What is really needed is for the government to follow the policies that are standard in research and medicine when it comes to informed consent. We have an established right to privacy, and the use of newborn blood samples in this manner is a clear violation of this right.
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/class-action-filed-over-newborns-blood
http://www.kxan.com/dpp/health/government-taking-newborn-dna-samples
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/LAB/newbornscreening.shtm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment