8. Who own's your body? Flashcards
Who own’s your body and its parts while you’re alive?
Limited property rights (we don’t have ownership but a “weaker package of limited property rights”
Difference between weak and strong property right?
So, we have a weak property right in that we can donate an organ, but we don’t have a strong property right (we can’t sell it)
Issues of body property rights?
Key issue of property is that you can transfer it to someone else.
Lots of ethical issues around ownership of our bodies e.g. Surrogacy, selling on organs
Who owns your dead body?
There is no property in a corpse
What is the alder hey organ scandal?
• Late 1990s: organ retention between 1988 – 1996
• Redfern Enquiry (reported 2001)
• 1000s of organs:
– 2080 organs, from 800 children, and 3575 aborted or stillborn foetuses
• Parents had consented to a post-mortem, but not to retention
• 105,000 organs retained in hospitals & medical schools in England
What was the justification and instruction given by Professor Dick van Velzen who was at the centre of the Alder Hey scandal?
Instruction:
“systematically ordered the unethical and illegal stripping of every organ from every child who had a post mortem” (Redfern report, quoted in Talbot, 2012)
Justification:
• “children are too precious to die without using every scrap of information which could help the next child.”
John moore’s spleen case
In 1976 John Moore was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia developed from the blood and/or bone
• Attended UCLA medical centre, and was under the care of David Golde
• 1976 – 1982: Moore returned to UCLA from Seattle several times to have blood and tissue samples taken
• Meanwhile..
– Golde had patented a cell line derived from Moore’s T-cells & products (could be used to stimulate immune system) & was working in collaboration with a pharma company
• Golde made ~ $15 million; pharma much more
What was the objection raised by John Moore to David Golde patenting a cell line from him?
Doesn’t voluntarily grant to the UC all rights I, or my heirs, may have in any cell line or any other potential product which might be developed from the blood and/or bone marrow obtained from me.
So hadn’t signed documents to allow use of his cell line.
What are the conclusion of the John Moore’s spleen case
• Moore took them to court:
– Asserted a “continuing property interest”(“conversion”)
– Said he did not give informed consent & Golde had breached fiduciary duty
• Back and forth… finally:
– No property interest (i.e. the removed spleen was not his property)
– Golde did breach fiduciary duty (not acting in patient’s benefit) and should have ensured Moore was fully informed (financial gain was conflict of interest)
A global perspective, example of property issue?
Hagahai people in Papua New Guinea
US researchers collected samples for research. They created a T cell-line and applied for a patent.
Issues raised: Biopiracy and the need for prior informed consent and discussion of benefit-sharing.
Outline the 2006 Tissue Act in scotland?
Requires authorisation for use of organs, tissues and samples from the deceased
Does not regulate use of tissues from the living- NHS scotland accreditation scheme 2011, now under healthcare improvement scotland.
For DNA analysis: Consent as detailed is Human Tissue Act 2004 (England, Wales and N Ireland) there is an offence known as DNA theft.
What is the 2013 landmark case for gene ownership?
Canavan gene case: Greenberg family
Provided material, time, organisation, finances.
The company ended up patenting the test so the price increased massively. Family not happy as it reduced assess to test for other families.
US supreme court: “we hold that a naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent-elidible merely because it has been isolated”
Issues with dead famous dna?
Delving into the world of human relics trade we have been able to obtain body parts and attempt to profile these famous individuals from history in order to read their genetic code containing their physical, medical and behavioural traits.
Ethically problematic?
Issues of property and/or privacy?
Issue with concept of body as property?
Would classifying bodies as property devalue them or endorse that value?
