Body of research

Oh boy, I can see this topic being very contentious, and I find it really interesting.  The crux of this article is that there is no federal law regarding property rights of human tissue. The article highlights a few of the issues involved with tissue research. I don’t claim have an answer for what is fair or ethical use, but I have some thoughts on the topic.

The article says “Investigators and universities have argued that recognizing property rights in excised tissue would threaten their ability to use stored tissue samples effectively.” Yes, this is true. Trying to establish what tissue belongs to whom, and whether or not they give permission for research would be very difficult.  But I can’t think of anything a person can claim a stronger right to than their own body. If a person has ownership of anything, it should be their own body.

Using stored tissue where the donor is not alive also creates issues. For example the use of tissue from a person who had a disease, such as the 1918 influenza, would be immensely useful, even critical to public health. However, the person who donated that tissue, even if it was an informed voluntary donation, could not even conceive of the used it might be put to 100 years later. How can you have informed consent for that?

How about “its [a person’s tissue] use without the patient’s consent may be permitted under federal research regulations, if a patient’s identity is unknown or adequately obscured.” This will prevent issues of discrimination based what is discovered using the tissue, but it does not take into account people’s moral feelings about tissue use. Different people have different views of what constitutes life. Some might feel that experiments done on human tissue, especially embryos, would constitute torture. If the experiment ended in the death of that tissue, it might also constitute murder.  What if some experiments done on a Roman Catholic’s tissue lead to methods used in abortion?  How would Christian Scientists feel about any use of any tissue type? And what if tissue from a Quaker was used to develop a technology used in warfare?

In the absence of laws, we can hope that scientists would use their best judgment on these issues. However the Dean of the Stanford School of Medicine said “If you did [have objections to your tissue being used] I guess you could sit there with your ruptured appendix and negotiate” (Skloot 206). I find that statement shocking and disgusting on so many levels. It doesn’t make me feel that all scientists have our best interests at heart. It can’t be logically argued that all science is done solely for the good of mankind. And a scientist can’t just assume that whatever research “donated” tissue is used for would be a use the donor would approve of.

And all of this only deals with the ethical issues of using tissue, what about the financial issues involved?