Tissue+Rights+&+Ownership+-+Darby

Darby Gilchrist


 * Immortal cells grow and survive division and sharing, allowing scientists to perform more extensive research.


 * John Moore:**
 * Spleen removed during 1980's to treat hairy cell leukemia.[[image:hairy_cells.jpg width="190" height="147" align="right"]]
 * Doctors told him that his health depended on testing (samples of blood and tissues).
 * Did not tell him that he was keeping samples to continue research on "Mo" cells, now worth $3 million.
 * Court stated that laws were put in place to prevent patients from having organs after removal.
 * Court also said that the "financial motives should have been disclosed to Moore" (Devine).

"Today, patients who undergo surgery often sign forms that specify whether any removed tissue may be used for research purposes" (Devine).

http://www.stlr.org/2010/03/tissue-rights-and-ownership-is-a-cell-line-a-research-tool-or-a-person/


 * William Catalona:**
 * Prostate surgeon and researcher at Washington University in St. Louis.
 * Collected over "3500 tissue samples, developed the prostate-specific antigen test, and led clinical trials to improve testing for prostate cancer" (Charo).
 * Left to work at another University and asked patients to write to Washington University to request their tissue samples be sent to him.
 * Washington University refused to send them.
 * Consent documents patients signed to release tissue stated the tissue belonged to Washington University.
 * Patients could request that samples be destroyed, but can not determine where they should be sent.


 * "...after the tissue has been properly excised, its use without the patient's consent may be permitted under federal research regulations, if the patient's identity is unknown or adequately obscured" (Charo).
 * If we could "own" our tissue, the government could still control it for public reasons, sale, or alteration.
 * Calling tissue "property" will "enhance the owner's interests considerably, especially with regard to prohibiting others from using it" (Charo).
 * Research for tissue and organs will not be adequately funded.
 * "State laws vary, federal regulations do not apply to all privately funded research, and a patchwork of rules cover the myriad laboratories and biobanks in the United States" (Charo).

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp068192