Proposed Rule Would Gut Law That Protects Baby DNA

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom Educating Americans About ‘Common Rule’ That Would Eliminate Certain Consent Requirements and Open Patients to Being Research Subjects Without Their Full Knowledge

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) is educating Americans about a proposed “Common Rule” that would undo years of work to protect baby DNA. 

CCHF NIH Common Rule Comments Jan 4, 2016

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a national organization existing to support individual health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy, is actively engaged in protecting the right of citizens to consent or to refuse to consent to the collection, storage, use and sharing of private information for research or other purposes, including biospecimens, and in particular, newborn DNA collected by state government agencies as part of the 50 state government newborn screening programs.

Baby DNA in Minnesota

Parents Are Being Misled About Research at MN Fair

ST. PAUL, Minn.—As the Minnesota State Fair began last week, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF,www.cchfreedom.org) encouraged new and potential parents to visit the booth manned by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Newborn Screening Program and request the official state form that will allow parents to have their newborn’s blood spots and test results destroyed rather than stored by the state and used for research.

CCHF to Parents: Ask for Newborn Screening DNA Opt-Out Form at MN State Fair

ST. PAUL, Minn.—The Minnesota State Fair, one of the largest in the country, kicks off today. But beyond the famous food-on-a-stick and other fair staples, organizations from around the state see the fair as an opportunity to introduce themselves to the throngs of visitors who will attend the fair through Labor Day.

The Daily Caller 'Leaders' Interview Segment with CCHF President Twila Brase!

Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, founder of Liberty Consulting and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, interviews Twila Brase in the old style (longer answers) on (longer answers) on Daily Caller about Obamacare, Medicare, building a “Wedge of Freedom,” Baby DNA warehousing and the power of privacy to protect health freedom.

Whose DNA Is It, Anyway?

Last year, CCHF was instrumental in advocating a parental consent requirement as part of the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2014, which passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law on December 18.

“CCHF has long fought for the inclusion of informed consent requirements before newborn bloodspots can be stored and used for research,” Brase said, as she prepared to depart for the nation’s capital...

Minnesota Department of Health Tries to Shut Down CCHF’s Informative Mailings to Parents About Use and Storage of Baby DNA

ST. PAUL, Minn.—For more than a century, the contact information from state registration of births has been public in the state of Minnesota. And that information is how Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF,www.cchfreedom.org), a Minnesota-based national organization dedicated to preserving patient-centered health care and protecting patient and privacy rights, recently sent nearly 10,000 letters to parents of newborns, letting them know that the state of Minnesota is storing and can use their baby’s DNA for genetic research without consent.

Despite New Parental Consent Provisions, Newborn Babies’ DNA Still at Risk

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Beginning tomorrow, a newborn’s DNA collected at the time of newborn screening may not be used for federally funded research unless the parents have given their express written permission, due to the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2014, which became law in December.

CCHF Alerts Parents About Government Storage and Use of Their Baby’s DNA

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org) wants parents of newborns in Minnesota to know that they aren’t the only ones who know their babies intimately.