Missouri’s role in CDC blood study of COVID-19 draws privacy concerns from lawmakers
Missourians may not know it, but their blood could soon be on its way to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as part of a study aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19.
And the fact that the blood is being used without the knowledge — or consent — of those who supplied it is a major concern for state legislative leaders.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has given the CDC approval to collect blood samples from private laboratories used by physicians around the state for analysis in an effort to help map the spread of this disease.
The department was contacted by the CDC and asked to be one of 10 states to participate in this survey, said Lisa Cox, communications director for the department of health. The identity of the other nine states has not been provided to the department, she said.
“Missouri has participated in these types of studies before,” Cox said. “This information is used to help guide life-saving policy decisions. Previous studies include the 2009 H1N1.”
Patient consent is not required, Cox said, because “this survey uses de-identified residual clinical specimens” — in other words, blood from unidentified patients that would be discarded otherwise.
The ethics of research on leftover blood or tissue samples without a patient’s consent has been a point of contention in the medical community.
Now it’s a sticking point for some Missouri lawmakers, who expressed their concerns in a letter to the health department’s director, Randall Williams.
“We understand that in an effort to address this public health crisis, additional measures must sometimes be taken to protect the people of this state. These blood samples though include people who are not known to have contracted COVID-19 and include patients who had their blood drawn for other health reasons they might not want made public,” said a letter signed by House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, and GOP Reps. Jon Patterson and Robert Ross.
“In our opinion,” the letter continued, “to take this type of action without permission from the patient is a step too far and would constitute an invasion of privacy.”
Patterson is a Republican from Lee’s Summit, a surgeon and chairman of the House special committee on disease control and prevention.
Ross is a Republican from Yukon and chairman of the House special committee on government oversight.
The letter, obtained by The Star through an open records request, goes on to say that even in a moment of crisis “we must as a government and as a state strive to be completely transparent, as well as protect the rights and freedoms of the people of Missouri.”
Failure to do so, the letter says, will create a “crisis of trust” that could handcuff any efforts the state takes to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“People must have faith in their government, especially in times as trying as these,” the lawmakers wrote. “An extreme action such as taking a patient’s blood sample without consent or knowledge and passing it along to an outside Missouri group undermines this trust.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he does not share the concerns about the study expressed by lawmakers.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
