ABSTRACT
The claim that ‘[T]he way in which human tissue is obtained is not a morally
neutral issue’ (Jones, 2000: 148) lies at the centre of the discussion of the ethics
and law relating to the use of human tissue in research. In recent years, several
high-profile scandals in the United Kingdom have resulted from the unauthorised
use of human tissues and body parts for research. A series of public inquiries
followed the discovery of incidents of organs and tissues being harvested and
retained without adequate consent, and even without the knowledge of those most
intimately involved. The Bristol Inquiry (Kennedy, 2000) examined events that
occurred at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, where the hearts of babies and children,
many of whom had died during or following open heart surgery, were retained
for research purposes. In 2001, The Royal Liverpool Children’s Inquiry Report was published (Redfern, 2001), which revealed details of the acquisition of a
large collection of children’s tissues and organs. Some of the details were grue-
some reading:
. . . the organs from children’s bodies were systematically and routinely
extracted, frequently without the consent, and sometimes against the
expressed wishes of their grieving parents. Some were examined to ascertain
the cause of death and then stored. Many were simply retained, often for no
apparent purpose other than the accumulation of a collection.
