[Ethical aspects of neonatal genetic screening]

The expansion of newborn genetic screening programs modifies the basic ethical criterion which has justified these interventions: the early detection to provide a treatment or a clinical benefit to the child. By including diseases in which the relationship between benefit and damage is less clear, some questions arise, such as anxiety of parents for false positives, the type of information and advice that should be provided, if these data really represent an improvement, the possibility of demanding an informed consent, and if the long-term costs are properly compensated, not only in economic terms but also in quality of life.