Human Tissue: Ethical Issues
Removal of tissue: commercial transactions
13.24 The Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 prohibits commercial dealings in organs (paragraph 7.3). The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 restricts commercial dealings in gametes and embryos (paragraph 10.8). There is a growing body of international regulation and guidance prohibiting commercial dealings in organs and other human tissue (paragraph 2.21). We discuss the arguments for and against the commercial organisation of the procurement of human tissue in Chapter 6 (paragraphs 6.32 - 6.36). Our conclusion is that there are strong reasons against organising the procurement of human tissue along commercial lines.(6) The reasons are strongest where difficult medical decisions are being made at vulnerable times in donors' and patients' lives. The altruistic motivation of those who donate tissue should be respected and encouraged. We recommend that bodies such as NHS trusts and independent hospitals responsible for removing donated human tissue should operate on a non-commercial basis. Payment to donors may cover only their reasonable expenses and inconvenience incurred and should not act as an inducement (paragraph 6.35).
13.25 Rewarded gifting is a term that has come into use to describe the offer of incentives for donation where the rewards are in kind, not money. Examples have been the offer of lifetime medical treatment in exchange for kidney donation or of free IVF treatment in return for the donation of ova. We recommend that rewarded gifting arrangements should be viewed as commercial transactions in that they offer inducements for permitting removal of human tissue and, in line with paragraph 13.24, that removal of human tissue should be neither encouraged nor recompensed by rewarded gifting (paragraph 6.36).
Footnotes6 Certain body products, such as hair, may be bought and sold. These, however, are commonly waste products that are customarily discarded (paragraphs 3.7 and 6.16).