The human tissue bill

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7439.533

BMJ 2004;328:533-534 (6 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7439.533

Editorial

The human tissue bill

Criminal sanctions linked to opaque legislation threaten research

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The new human tissue bill is making its way towards the statutebook for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Although a necessaryresponse to the organ retention scandal involving the RoyalLiverpool Children's NHS Trust, this bill goes far wider thantissues derived from post mortems.¹ It applies to any materialthat contains human cells—even urine and sputum. Usingsuch material for research or for training not "incidental tothe diagnostic process" will be a criminal offence unless "appropriate"consent has been obtained. Possible penalties include threeyears in jail. Punitive criminal sanctions coupled with opaquelegislation threaten ethical and essential research as wellas routine NHS activities. Incidental and appropriate have yetto be defined by a new human tissue authority, which will havepowers of licensing and inspection. But the government has repeatedlysaid that consent must be explicit,² even in relation to medicaltraining using residual blood . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter Furness, professor

Department of Pathology, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW (peter.furness@leicester.ac.uk)

Richard Sullivan, head of clinical programmes

Research Management and Planning Directorate, Cancer Research UK, London WC2A 3PX (Richard.Sullivan@cancer.org.uk)

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