On 19 April 2010, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics opened a consultation on the donation and use of human body parts in medicine and research. The Council is asking the public just how far it would be prepared to go in promoting the donation of eggs, sperm, organs and other human body parts for use and research in medical science
Reflecting Public Concerns and Stimulating Debate
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics investigates ethical issues raised by new developments in biology and medicine. Established by the Nuffield Foundation in 1991, the Council is an independent body funded jointly by the Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The Council has established an international reputation for addressing public concerns, and providing independent advice to assist policy makers and stimulate debate in bioethics.
Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern, Professor of Social Anthropology at Cambridge University, is the Chair of the inquiry, and is interested in the ethics of providing increased incentives like cash and meeting funeral costs, and why different rules exist for different types of donation. She points out that:
“Women can already get free IVF treatment from private clinics to encourage them to donate eggs, and healthy volunteers may be paid significant sums of money to ‘donate’ their bodies to test new medicines for the first time in humans.”
Is the present system fair or could it be better balanced to include other kinds of donation and testing?
Paying people beyond basic expenses to donate most kinds of organs and tissue for use in medical treatment is currently illegal in the UK. The present system of organ donation is based on relatives donating material to help a family member, or voluntary donations made by individuals with a social conscience who want to contribute to society as a whole.
The National Health Service has also been working to increase organ donation, but there is a shortfall in the number of organs available and an extensive list of patients waiting for transplantation. The Council wants to know if society should be making it easier for those patients, some of whom will not survive the waiting period.
“Offering payment or other incentives may encourage people to take risks or go against their beliefs in a way they would not have otherwise done”, says professor Strathern. Is this ethical?
Improved Health and Supply and Demand
Some people are actually traveling abroad to purchase donated organs where legal restrictions are less in force. It is well known that a lucrative market exists in other countries that are more responsive to the market forces of supply and demand. The exact figure of transplant tourism, however, is not known. Are transplant patients being forced by circumstances beyond their control to go into situations where their interests may not be protected by international law?
Recent years have seen an increased demand for organ donors due to improved health technology and the continuing growth of an ageing population. It is a trend that is likely to continue well into the future. According to the Council, there are some 8000 people waiting for an organ transplant in the UK, and demand exists for approximately 1200 more egg donors and 500 more sperm donors. Scientists also need people to donate human tissue for research.
The Council is looking at many kinds of possible donation, both in life and after death, including whole organs, blood, skin, corneas, bone, sperm, eggs and embryos, as well as clinical trials to test the safety of new medicines in humans.
The Council is seeking views from a broad cross section of society, including professionals, groups and individual members of the public on a number of questions. The title of the Council’s consultation paper is Give and Take? Human Bodies in Medicine and Research. The closing date for responses is 13th July 2010.
Reference: The Nuffield Council On Bioethics (accessed 20 April, 2010)
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