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Article: Use presumptive benefit of newborn screening for mental retardation.(Clinical Rounds)
- Article from:
- Pediatric News
- Article date:
- June 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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GRAPEVINE, TEX. -- Newborn testing for mental retardation should be conducted to provide earlier access to intervention programs for the child and information on the future reproductive risk for the parents, according to a child development expert.
"A fundamental tenet of newborn screening is proven benefit to the infant," said Donald Bailey, Ph.D., director of FPG Child Development Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"Many of the conditions causing mental retardation do not meet this standard," he said.
But Dr. Bailey, who received his doctorate in special education, argued that in the case of mental retardation, the concepts ...