Neonatale screening: dynamiek en ethiek

- The Health Council of the Netherlands recently published a thorough report on neonatal screening, which recommends screening newborns for 18 treatable conditions. The report rightly stresses the importance of informing parents adequately, preferably during pregnancy. Issues that require further debate include neonatal screening for untreatable conditions and the relative advantages and disadvantages of screening newborns compared with screening prospective parents for carrier status, which may prevent the birth of a first-affected child.

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2005;149:2841-3