statism watch

Just help yourself, government. Don’t bother asking, it’s not as though we (or our children) have rights anymore. You can thank Bush II for this… he signed a bill in 2008 which critics have described as the first step towards a national US DNA database. It explicitly legitimizes the use of genomic data for genetic research without the knowledge or consent of citizens. This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to what your government is doing. Oh, and this is already in place in Canada. This site leaves it to you to work through the spin and think of the future consequences of unrestricted government access to your DNA.

Flashback: The government has your baby’s DNA | UK Police routinely arresting people to get DNA, inquiry claims | UK: Police ‘must purge innocent DNA’ | Newborn’s Blood Samples Raise Questions of Privacy | Study finds genetic discrimination by insurance firms | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | UK: Police ‘arrest innocent youths for their DNA’, officer claims | UK: Fury as Commons denied vote on DNA database | Australians refused insurance because of poor genes

Mary Ann Roser, Austin American Statesman
February 22, 2010

An Austin lawyer threatened to pursue a new federal lawsuit Monday after learning that some newborn blood samples in Texas went to the U.S. military for potential use in a database for law enforcement purposes.

The Department of State Health Services never mentioned the database to Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, who settled a lawsuit in December with the state over the indefinite storage of newborn blood without parental consent, or to the American-Statesman, which first reported on the little-known blood storage practice last spring. Harrington said he thought another suit was likely unless the health department destroys the information obtained from the blood samples or obtains consent.

“This is the worst case of bad faith I have dealt with as a lawyer,” he said Monday.

Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas attorney general’s office, which represented the health department, fired back. “During this litigation, Harrington was provided accurate answers to the questions he asked,” he said.

“Once Harrington negotiated $26,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs for himself, accepted a settlement agreement and got his desired headlines, he was satisfied and dropped his lawsuit against DSHS. It appears recent media reports caused Harrington to backtrack in an effort to obscure how he chose to handle this case,” he said.

An article Monday by the Texas Tribune, a news Web site, said the state health department sent 800 anonymous samples to the military to help create a national mitochondrial DNA database. The samples were sent in 2003 and 2007, according to the department’s Web site.

Carrie Williams, a health department spokeswoman, said the program wasn’t mentioned because, “We don’t publicize every agency initiative or contract, and obviously this is a sensitive topic.”

Texas agreed to take part in the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory database project because blood spots might help identify “ethnic or ancestral origins of unidentified corpses using mitochondrial DNA,” Williams said. “We believed it was an important research project that could potentially help in missing persons cases.”

The blood samples are taken from the heel during newborn screening tests for genetic disorders.

The blood spots are collected on coded cards, with the names matching those codes kept on file at the health department. Names are not disclosed without parental consent, the department says.

In March, Harrington sued in federal court on behalf of four parents and a pregnant woman who later dropped out, claiming that the state’s collection and indefinite storage of the samples since 2002 amounted to “an unlawful search and seizure.”

The Legislature approved a law in May that requires medical professionals to inform parents or guardians that the blood spots are being collected, stored and could be used for research. Parents who object could opt out.

In December, Harrington settled his suit when the health department agreed to destroy 5.3 million samples.

“I can’t tell you how many times we sat there, and they said no law enforcement,” Harrington said of the lawsuit discussions. “They said, ‘It’s only about medical research, it’s only about medical research.’\u2009″

Williams said the project has been listed on the Web site for weeks and “falls under the broader category of public health research.”

“Our intentions over the years have been good,” she added, “and we are moving forward with the positive changes to the program.”

Source | See Also under DNA: Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included | The government has your baby’s DNA | Gene Patents Under Legal Attack | Israeli Scientists Show DNA Evidence Can be Fabricated | DNA matches solve only a fraction of crimes, police admit | UK Police routinely arresting people to get DNA, inquiry claims | UK: Terror ’suspects’ could remain on DNA database for life, innocents get 6 years | Plant experts unveil DNA barcode | Judge OKs Challenge to Human-Gene Patents | UK: Home Office climbs down over keeping DNA records on innocent | IBM Building Personal DNA Reader | UK: Pilot project for DNA, isotope analysis of immigrants ‘deeply flawed’ | UK: Police ‘must purge innocent DNA’ | Newborn’s Blood Samples Raise Questions of Privacy | Study finds genetic discrimination by insurance firms | US: Ruling allowing Taser use to get DNA may be nation’s first | UK: Police ‘arrest innocent youths for their DNA’, officer claims | Genetically modified monkeys pass traits to offspring | UK: Fury as Commons denied vote on DNA database | Meet – and eat – the modified Atlantic salmon | UK: Police to destroy DNA profiles of 800,000 innocent people | UK: DNA pioneer Alec Jeffreys: drop innocent from database | Australians refused insurance because of poor genes | UK: Government plans to keep DNA samples of innocent | UK: DNA details of 1.1m children on database | UK House of Lords warns over ’surveillance state’ | Controversial US measure would require DNA sampling at arrest | GM Crops Climb to Nearly One-Tenth of Global Crop Production | European court rules DNA database breaches human rights | Sick babies denied treatment in DNA row | Genetically engineered meal close to your table | Experts set to revisit global cloning ban | DNA of ‘blameless’ youths stored | UK DNA database turns ‘innocents into criminals’, warns watchdog | The evolution of baby-making | Scientists: Humans and machines will merge in future | Newborn Blood-Storage Law Stirs Fears of DNA Warehouse | Man spends 18 hours in police cell and has his DNA taken for ‘dropping an apple core’ | Widen DNA dragnet: Police Chief Blair

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm and is filed under accountability, eugenics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.