In a message dated 10/27/2003 0:05:41 AM EST, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<< "the California Supreme Court ruled that he had no entitlement to any
rights to his own cells after they had been removed
 > from his body."
 >
 > OUTRAGEOUS -- one is entitled to the old car parts when your car gets a
new carb or spark plugs or anything, but not our body parts apparently! >>

We are in a  "brave" new world now (again) and ethics need to shift as the
times progress. In the past, organs, limbs etc. were removed to save a life.
Amputations were ( and still are) done to prevent necrosis, sepsis, cancers, etc
from ravaging the rest of the body, to save the person's life. I have seen
several amputations and between the infections and/or decay present, no one would
want, or even be able to safely dispose of, these body parts. Safe limb
disposal/safe tissue disposal is a key component of infection control. Still, now
we are dealing with otherwise healthy individuals, donating milk, another
scenario entirely. In between was the man whose spleen was removed ( to save his
life, presumably) and until he found out it became a source of income, he had no
need of it. Whether he has rights to the monies his tissues are generating is
something for the medic0-research-patient communities to address. Ethics,
like other branches of medical practice, have to adapt to the times. We are in
the lag time, it seems. The patient's bill of rights perhapds needs to adapt to
the new technologies and new expectations.
Just musing,
Judy Le Van Fram, PT, IBCLC, Brooklyn, USA

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