Newborns get routine heel blood tests, but should states keep those samples?
In Idaho, health care providers take a small blood sample from newborns to screen for 52 potentially life-threatening conditions.
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In Idaho, health care providers take a small blood sample from newborns to screen for 52 potentially life-threatening conditions.
Shortly after birth, babies are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for life-threatening conditions. States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.
Close to 4 million babies are born in the United States every year, and within their first 48 hours nearly all are pricked in the heel so their blood can be tested for dozens of life-threatening genetic and metabolic problems.
States generally save leftover blood from those samples, and parents and privacy experts are concerned that information could be used without consent years later.
The heel-stick test is considered such a crucial public health measure that states typically require it and parents aren't asked for permission before it's done.