The Legal Toolkit for Newborn Screening DBS provides state legislators and other policy-makers with a menu of options to consider as they develop policies related to the retention and secondary use of residual newborn screening dried blood samples (DBS).
Developed by the Network for Public Health Law and the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics with funding support provided by the Public Health Law Research program, the Toolkit provides a survey of current state statutes and/or regulations addressing certain core provisions related to the retention and use of DBS, as well as guidance for newborn screening programs to enable them to 1) clarify what their legal responsibilities are with respect to the retention and secondary use of DBS and related information and 2) delineate clearly what activities they have legal authorization to conduct using DBS and/or related information.