CCHC Asks Governor Pawlenty to Obey State Law on Baby DNA
07/25/2007
Citing State Health Commissioner’s Failure to Respond to CCHC’s July 12 Letter, CCHC Faxes Letter to Minnesota’s Governor TodayMinneapolis/Saint Paul – Citizens’ Council on Health Care today faxed a letter to Governor Tim Pawlenty asking him require the Minnesota Department of Health to comply with state law on newborn genetic testing.
On March 27, 2007, an administrative law judge ruled against the Department’s storage and dissemination of baby blood and DNA without parent consent. On June 26, 2007, the Department appealed the ruling but the appeal was denied.
“The Department’s appeal has been denied, yet Commissioner Mandernach has refused to give any indication that the Department is moving toward destruction of the 670,000 newborn blood samples taken illegally for the past ten years,” says Twila Brase, president of CCHC.
On July 12, Ms. Brase faxed a letter to state Health Commissioner Dianne Mandernach asking her to provide CCHC with written confirmation of the health department’s plan and schedule for destruction of the newborn blood specimens the Department has been storing and providing to researchers without parent consent.
“We had no choice but to send a letter to Governor Pawlenty. As head of the administration, the responsibility for requiring department compliance with state law falls on his shoulders. It’s his administration,” Ms. Brase said.