Bill to Protect the Genetic Profiles of Californians Clears Assembly Floor – AB 170
        
            By Christopher Simmons, 
                California Newswire
             | 06. 03. 2015
        
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
             
  Untitled Document 
  
A closely watched bill by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) to   strengthen notice requirements for the storage of newborn blood samples   passed the California State Assembly by a vote of 55-9. The legislation,   AB 170, will ensure parents are fully informed of their rights when it   comes to the retention, storage and eventual medical research conducted   on their children’s dried blood spot samples. It would further require   the destruction of stored samples upon request of a child reaching   adulthood. 
 
  Each year, thousands of newborns are screened at birth for genetic   and metabolic disorders, saving countless lives as a result. AB 170 will   do nothing to affect this important public health policy. Rather, the   measure addresses the storage of samples after these lifesaving tests   take place. It will require parents to be notified that their child’s   blood and DNA will be kept for purposes of experimentation and require   the state to obtain a signature from parents acknowledging that they   have received information about the storage of their child’s blood   sample and subsequent use in research. 
 
  “Newborn blood screening is an...
 
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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