Saturday, May 22, 2010

British ObamaCare update: Babies' blood used for secret DNA database

Of the perils of government-run health care is that the government, an already powerful force, becomes even more powerful when it controls a basic need--our health.

Unfortunately, power is not always used responsibly, or ethically.

For instance, London's Times reports that its National Health Service has been secretly created DNA banks from blood taken from newborns. The blood is taken for standard medical tests, but the storage of the DNA data is done without permission of the baby's parents.

Police, coroners, and medical researchers are able to use the data. They are also able to identify individuals from that data.

So far information from the data hasn't been abused. Yet. Just give it time.

Here's what one activist told the Times:

As someone who gave consent for my own baby to be tested, I’m horrified that anyone would breach my trust, keep my child's sample for years on end and use it for all sorts of extraneous purposes.
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