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 …