The Texas Department of State Health Services sent about 800 samples of baby blood to the U.S. military for testing without parental consent. The purpose of this study was to set up a national DNA data base for research on ethnic or ancestral mitochondrial markers which would identify unknown corpses or missing persons.
The Texas Civil Rights project discovered this practice in December and filed a lawsuit to have the samples destroyed or get consent from the parents to use their baby's blood in this manner.
Current law requires medical professionals to inform parents or guardians that blood samples can be collected and used for research. Parents who object can send a statement to the state health department, and their child’s samples will have to be destroyed within 60 days. If the parents do not do that, the child can object upon reaching adulthood.
The blood samples are stored at Texas A&M University’s School of Rural Public Health. According to the American-Statesman, "last year, when stories in the American-Statesman brought the practice to light, the state health department and some medical researchers defended it, saying that collecting the blood spots on paper - done when newborns are screened for various health disorders - might one day provide valuable clues about childhood cancer and other diseases. They said that because the samples were coded and did not identify the babies by name, privacy rights were protected."