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Facts And Procedural History : Indiana's Newborn Screening Program

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FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Indiana’s newborn screening program, codified at Indiana Code Chapter 16-41-17, requires hospitals to take a blood sample from every infant born under their care. It is a public health measure meant to check the newborns for certain diseases or conditions. Blood is collected in five circles on a newborn screen card, otherwise known as a dried blood spot (“DBS”) sample, and then given to a lab to test. The Genomics and Newborn Screening Program of the Indiana State Department of Health (“ISDH”) perform the tests—they punch small holes out of the DBS sample, often not using all five circles. There are no explicit directions on what to do with the remaining DBS cards, but from 1991 to June 2013 retained and …show more content…

The proposed class was those who had a DBS taken and stored for longer than 6 months without any documentation of consent. Doe’s complaint alleged that ISDH violated her constitutional rights (4th, 5th, 14th Amendments) by storing her blood samples without consent; giving said samples, or information taken from them, to unauthorized third parties; and not informing the guardians that the samples may be used for medical research or be provided to third parties. ISDH moved to dismiss under Trial Rule 12(B)(6) on the grounds that (1) Doe lacks standing; (2) declaratory relief is inappropriate because Doe has an available administrative remedy (requesting ISDH to destroy her sample), and (3) the request for injunctive relief is moot because ISDH changed its policy in 2013.
The trial court denied the request for a preliminary injunction and later granted the motion to dismiss on the same grounds asserted by ISDH. Doe appealed raising three issues, but the Court of Appeals found only one dispositive: whether the trial court erred when it determined that Doe has not sustained, nor was she in immediate danger of sustaining, a direct injury as a result of the storage of her dried blood spot sample, and, therefore, she lacked standing.
Writing for a unanimous Court of Appeals, Judge Kirsch affirmed the trial court’s ruling. First, the

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