Onyx - thanks for the info..
Not sure I needed to read this.. but I guess better to be informed. Ive always wondered about this exact thing -what happens to my blood when Ive had a blood test after they've done the tests. Especially with the whole technology of cloning these days.. and who knows what other technology they invent in the future, I want my tissues to remain mine and mine only!! This is the exact reason I decided to take my placenta home from the hospital - just a sneaking suspicion it wouldnt be disposed of properly by the hospital..
If this is happening in Australia, I want to know, and I want my tissues back!!! If I was aware of my tissues sitting in a lab somewhere, I would be absolutely furious and walk straight into that lab and retrieve them myself, and slap the researchers in the face in the process!! Makes me want to go and do a bit of research...
I dont agree with this sort of thing AT ALL. What peeves me off the most is that the medical field is so quick to shoot any researcher down whose study does not meet ethics requirements (as in the case of Wakefield), but then they do these diabolical unethical ridiculous disgusting apalling things in ""medicine"" and think its justified!!! Yes can you tell how angry I am at the thought of this.. and how little trust I have left in the medical field (which is why I started studying naturopathy). Having suffered a similar (very rare) illness to Henrietta Lacks myself, I would be devastated, appalled and feel absolutely sick if my cells were being used in a vaccine being injected to billions of people around the world every day.
If that shocks you...you might also be interested in the fact those bits of cardboard they use when they take the heel ***** samples from your newborns aren't actually thrown out...they are archived and stored for twenty years for research purposes...they will only be destroyed if you specifically ask for it.....now I think THAT is a really scary prospect......
I hear you Melbel! Funnily enough I was just thinking of that before and wondering about that possibility.. I might just contact my hospital to enquire and ask for it to be destroyed.
Well, they can keep my pap smear test. That's one package I DO NOT want in the mail.
So I'm not sure why it would bother you that your used samples may (but probably not) help in the advancement of disease research. It certainly doesn't bother me - but I'm a blood, bone marrow & organ donor.
(And the HeLa samples were taken in the 1950's, when it was ethical, even if it's not now. Your outrage appears to be about 60years belated)
Tinkabelle, if you don't want your tissue used you should write that on your consent forms because legally your discarded tissue probably doesn't belong to you. I don't know of an Australian trial about it but if you google John Moore you will see that he tried to claim profits on research using his tissue and he lost the case.
Can I ask... hypothetically, if one of your loved ones or you was dying of cancer and they offered you a new treatment that was still in the trial stage would you refuse because it would mean that your tissue became theirs.
I understand that on a very basic level the thought of someone else patenting your blood cells and profiting from it is kind of discomforting but TBH if my unwanted tissue saved lives I would be ok with it. Should an artist who used something from your bin to make a sculpture have to share the profits/intellectual rights with you? To me tissue use is a similar issue - to me it's useless abut after some work it might be something else.
BTW - as far as I know the more important cell line in vaccinations comes from a fetus that was aborted in the 60's. Feel free to correct me because I'm not 100% sure....
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