Letters
Reply from chairman of BMA's medical ethics committee
EDITOR,--The issue on which the BMA has focused in the recent controversy is the principle of informed and considered consent. We looked beyond the case in hand to its potential impact on one of the cornerstones of medical practice, being profoundly aware that the final result may set precedents regarding the extraction and use of genetic material from dying or dead people. A letter was sent to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority because aspects of the case under its consideration (and on which it alone could adjudicate) have implications for the fundamental principle of the individual's rights over his or her own body.
The BMA has consistently emphasised that informed consent is a central principle of medical practice. The special nature of genetic material, which is used to create new life, makes it particularly important that genuine and explicit consent is obtained for its use. Expert committees have consistently
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