Should Genetic Testing for Variants Associated with Influenza Infection Be Mandatory for Health Care Employees?

Scientists are beginning to understand more about the role of host genetics in individuals' responses to influenza virus exposure. This fictional case addresses a situation in which a health care organization proposes requiring all health care practitioners with direct patient care responsibilities to undergo mandatory genetic testing for genetic variants used to (1) predict individuals' responses to the influenza vaccine, (2) determine individual susceptibility to influenza infection, and (3) identify individuals at increased risk for severe disease. This commentary will discuss ethical and legal issues associated with use of genetic test results to determine employee work assignments during an influenza pandemic.

Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research Consortium: Accelerating Evidence-Based Practice of Genomic Medicine.

Despite rapid technical progress and demonstrable effectiveness for some types of diagnosis and therapy, much remains to be learned about clinical genome and exome sequencing (CGES) and its role within the practice of medicine. The Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) consortium includes 18 extramural research projects, one National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) intramural project, and a coordinating center funded by the NHGRI and National Cancer Institute. The consortium is exploring analytic and clinical validity and utility, as well as the ethical, legal, and social implications of sequencing via multidisciplinary approaches; it has thus far recruited 5,577 participants across a spectrum of symptomatic and healthy children and adults by utilizing both germline and cancer sequencing. The CSER consortium is analyzing data and creating publically available procedures and tools related to participant preferences and consent, variant classification, disclosure and management of primary and secondary findings, health outcomes, and integration with electronic health records. Future research directions will refine measures of clinical utility of CGES in both germline and somatic testing, evaluate the use of CGES for screening in healthy individuals, explore the penetrance of pathogenic variants through extensive phenotyping, reduce discordances in public databases of genes and variants, examine social and ethnic disparities in the provision of genomics services, explore regulatory issues, and estimate the value and downstream costs of sequencing. The CSER consortium has established a shared community of research sites by using diverse approaches to pursue the evidence-based development of best practices in genomic medicine.

Return of Results from Research Using Newborn Screening Dried Blood Samples.

There may be compelling reasons to return to parents a limited subset of results from research conducted using residual newborn screening dried blood samples (DBS). This article explores the circumstances under which research results might be returned, as well as the mechanisms by which state newborn screening programs might facilitate the return of research results. The scope of any responsibility to return results of research conducted using DBS should be assessed in light of the potential impact on the primary mission of state newborn screening programs.

Parental permission for pilot newborn screening research: guidelines from the NBSTRN.

There is broad recognition of the need for population-based research to assess the safety and efficacy of newborn screening (NBS) for conditions that are not on current panels. However, prospective population-based research poses significant ethical, regulatory, and logistical challenges. In the context of NBS, there have been a variety of approaches that address parental decision-making in pilot studies of new screening tests or conditions. This article presents an ethical and legal analysis of the role of parental permission by the Bioethics and Legal Work Group of the Newborn Screening Translational Research Network created under a contract from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Circumstances are outlined in which a waiver of documentation of permission or a waiver of permission may be ethically and legally appropriate in the NBS context. These guidelines do not constitute American Academy of Pediatrics policy.

Laboratory specimens and genetic privacy: evolution of legal theory.

Although laboratory specimens are an important resource for biomedical research, controversy has arisen when research has been conducted without the knowledge or consent of the individuals who were the source of the specimens. This paper summarizes the most important litigation regarding the research use of laboratory specimens and traces the evolution of legal theory from property claims to claims related to genetic privacy interests.

Retention and research use of residual newborn screening bloodspots.

The storage and use of residual newborn screening dried blood specimens has generated significant controversy in the past 5 years, primarily because of public concerns over the lack of parental knowledge and consent for these activities. State policies addressing the management of these specimens vary widely, and there is currently little guidance to aid new state policy development to address the concerns of program professionals, investigators, and the general public. This article offers guidance for state policy based on multiple sources of data, including public attitudes, professional statements, state experience, and an analysis of the ethical, social, legal, and biomedical issues from a multidisciplinary group of scholars. This guidance will be useful for state programs that seek to develop policies that are informed by a contemporary analysis of the key ethical, legal, and social aspects of this practice. This article represents the work of the authors and does not represent American Academy of Pediatrics policy.

Research results: preserving newborn blood samples.

Retention and use, without explicit parental permission, of residual dried blood samples from newborn screening has generated public controversy over concerns about violations of family privacy rights and loss of parental autonomy. The public debate about this issue has included little discussion about the destruction of a potentially valuable public resource that can be used for research that may yield improvements in public health. The research community must advocate for policies and infrastructure that promote retention of residual dried blood samples and their use in biomedical research.

Concerns of newborn blood screening advisory committee members regarding storage and use of residual newborn screening blood spots.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed attitudes and opinions of members of newborn blood screening (NBS) advisory committees regarding the storage and secondary research use of residual specimens from NBS. METHODS: We conducted focus groups in 2008 and 2009 with NBS advisory committees (4 focus groups; n = 39 participants) in the Mountain States region (i.e., AZ, CO, MT, NM, NV, TX, UT, and WY). RESULTS: Participants identified several challenges to implementing policies for storage of and research on residual newborn blood specimens. Themes that emerged from the data were public health relevancy; improvement of parental knowledge; impact of enhanced parental involvement; concerns over ownership, privacy, and confidentiality; identification of secondary research uses; and role of advisory committees. CONCLUSIONS: Participants indicated that secondary uses of residual specimens entailed opportunities for improvements in NBS programs but also carried significant risks for their programs. Addressing concerns from stakeholders will be necessary for state-level adoption of national recommendations.