Newswise For the first time, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) spoke with one voice and released a set of recommendations and guidelines on best practices for genetic testing and screening of children.

Genetic screening is done more on children than on any other group, with about 4 million newborns screened every year for nearly 40 metabolic and endocrine disorders including phenylketonuria, cystic fibrosis and hypothyroidism, as well as hemoglobinopathies, such as sickle cell disease. Most states have adopted the uniform panel, although some states include a variety of additional conditions.

Despite gains in technology and the study of genetics, such guidelines had not been updated by either group in at least a decade.

We now have geneticists, pediatricians and ethicists all in consensus about what are the best guidelines for genetic testing and screening of children, said pediatrician Lainie Ross, MD, PhD, Carolyn and Matthew Bucksbaum professor and associate director at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago.

Ross is the lead author of the policy statement, published by AAP, and the companion technical paper, published by the ACMG. The new guidelines were released on Feb. 21, 2013.

The two groups also were unified in their call for greater parental involvement in the genetic testing and screening of children.

Currently, genetic screening of newborns is mandatory and this has led to minimal or no engagement of parents. Parents are often not told that screening is happening. When they are told, very little information typically is provided, even though they had the right to refuse screening in most states.

The new statement promotes mandatory offering of screening. A mandatory offer means parents must be informed that screening is available and should be provided with an overview of what will be screened for, the type of results they may get, the minor risks involved and the potential benefits if their child is found to have a disorder that requires immediate treatment.

After such education and counseling, parents then would be asked to give permission for screening. While there are no guidelines on what form that consent would take, it could be as easy as a verbal agreement to go ahead.

In our world, we want every baby to be screened. The move from mandatory screening to mandatory offering is to engage parents, to make sure that parents know about screening and give permission for it, Ross said. If they say no, the next step is not to say OK but to engage in further conversation because refusal should be a very rare event given the high benefit-to-risk ratio.

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New Guidance Issued on Genetic Testing of Children

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