In the news

The Retained Organs Commission, the advisory group set up by the UK Government in the wake of the Alder Hey and Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiries, has begun a public consultation on what should be done with unclaimed an unidentifiable organs and tissues. These are specimens that remain in NHS collections after completion of efforts to notify families and return identifiable remains for "respectful disposal". The consultation also has a wider purpose, as comments are invited on proposals for a new regulatory framework to govern museums, archives and collections of human organs and tissue, including both post-mortem material and specimens from living people. One suggestion is the establishment of a statutory Human Tissue Authority whose functions might include licensing of premises where collections are held, licensing of specific purposes for collections, and licensing of curators responsible for collections. One problem is the difficulty of defining "human material" or "human organs and tissues". There is some disagreement as to whether material such as tissue blocks and slides should be included, however it seems to have been accepted that "replicable tissues such as blood, small amounts of skin, teeth, hair and nail clippings, and non-cellular material" are normally excluded from the definition. This presumably means that it does not cover extracts from blood samples used to obtain DNA, or DNA itself. The results of the Commission’s consultation will be used to inform work by the Department of Health towards drawing up new legislation to replace the 1961 Human Tissue Act, now widely perceived as inadequate. The consultation closes on 10 June 2002.