BellyBelly Life Subscriber
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)
Moderator
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....
I am confused about why it would bother you if it's to help save a life
Registered User
Exactly!!!! I am quite happy to give up anything I don't need if it could save someone's life. That's why I am an organ donor. As soon as I have popped this baby out I am putting myself on the bone marrow registry. I think there are way more improtant things to worry about than what happens to a bit of our blood or tissue.
Moderator
It's not so simple as that. In the years after taking tissue form Henrietta Lacks they also took tissue from her family and conducted tests on them without informing them about why. Her family only found out the truth by accident.
The research that they did in the Nazi death camps is still used today. It has saved lives but you know what it still bothers me.
Informed consent is one of the cornerstones of modern medicine. IMO informed consent should also cover what will happen to any tissue that is collected/discarded.
Registered User
And THAT onyx, is the crux of it for me, I have no problem being an organ/tissue donor, bacause that is MY CHOICE. the problem here is an ethical one in that some/most are given no choice.
I certainly had no idea about any of this before reading this thread!
Registered User
The issue here is one of consent, as STARRYSKY has mentioned...
I am confused about why it would bother you if it's to help save a life
I still don't know why it's an issue to recycle something that would otherwise be thrown in the bin?
Onyx has raised some important points, however for some people there are spiritual considerations... Not everyone views the world like Descartes.
Not only that.. if you are happy with your cancer cells being collected and having them contaminate vaccines that are then injected into people all around the world and you think thats helping save lives, then that's your perogative (one of the articles I posted previously talks about that contamination). IMO however, I can't really see how such practices can lead to good health, its illogical.
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....
Yes this is correct from what Ive read, and they are used to make the MMR and chickenpox vaccines. I think some of the codes for them are WI-38, PER-6, HEK-293, MRC-5 and IMR-90 cells. You can get info direct from the manufacturer websites. On the package inserts that come with the vaccines, I think, from memory, they are called 'human diploid cell lines.'
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
What about the spritiual considerations of leaving your tissues samples at the dump next to a rotting banana? Gross. Or burned alive in an incinerator? or all those stray hairs that fall off your head & get emptied out with the other dander in the vacuum cleaner? Lost & lonely (but have a courageous & heart-felt reunion with your tissues samples next to the rotting Banana, if the fates have their way).
So you advocate that your tissues should be thown out & not used. If you disgarded some trash in a bin & I collected that trash before it went to the dump, you don't get any say in whether I should use it for good or evil. It's my trash now.
Same same, but different?
BellyBelly Life Subscriber
No body can deny that what the Nazi's did was horrific and wrong in every sense of the word. But again - over 60 years ago. The standard has quite obviously changed! In addition to that: the HeLa samples weren't forced, they were taken in the process of treatment. Just consent was not given for their purpose. I guess one could argue that is a kind of force-by-ignorance. Definitely very different to the Nazis.
I still don't know why it's an issue to recycle something that would otherwise be thrown in the bin?
So if there was an option on the form to agree to use your tissues for research, should it then be broken down into catagories? "I agree for my tissues to be used in research to help kittens, but not puppies?" Or cancer, but not genetic diseases. or austism but not muscular dystrophy? Where does the line get drawn?
Isn't it simpler to just not chuck it in the bin, but to just use it?
In addition to that - how do you think they 'destroy' your samples. I'll give you the tip: it's not usually by incineration, but more likely just going to the dump. I'd rather my cast offs be used for something than rot in a hole.
Last edited by entreat; February 18th, 2011 at 11:16 AM. : spelling
BellyBelly Member
And you are FREE to make that choice entreat, but just because you feel that way doesn't mean everyone else should. And I disagree, it's not completely different to the Nazi's at the very crux of the issue, which is a sense of entitlement justified under the banner of the "greater good", as the greater good is a subjective perspective.
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