Protecting children from forced altruism: the legal approach

The case of R v Cambridge Health Authority ex parte B, decided in March this year,1 highlights the lack of legal concern for children who become bone marrow donors. While the proceedings against Cambridge Health Authority chiefly aimed to secure further aggressive treatment for 10 year old B, who suffered from acute myeloid leukaemia, the case also reflected how uncontroversial bone marrow donation by young children is in Britain. The judgments recited without adverse comment the fact that last year B received bone marrow from her younger sister.

Nevertheless, it is by no means clear that harvesting bone marrow from a child is legal. Neither statute nor case law specifically sanctions bone marrow donation by a child. Whether the practice is lawful or not must therefore be deduced from general principles of medical law.

Two quite distinct …