Tissue Money Research Paper

Tissue Money: Who Really Owns It? In discussions of tissue ownership, one controversial issue has been should the patients be compensated? On one hand, some argue that since people don't have legal ownership of their tissues after they are taken they shouldn't be compensated. On the other hand, some contend that those who make millions off of the tissues should compensate those who gave the tissues. Ultimately, the issue at question here is should those who give tissues be compensated for those said tissues, based on current legal standings. In recent times this has led to many legal matters, such as court cases, surrounding the question of compensation for human tissues and the billion dollar industry for human tissue. One precedent setting case was Moore vs. Regents of the University of California, in 1990, in which John Moore's tissues were taken and from …show more content…
One was in the case of Henrietta Lacks, whose legacy lives on through HeLa cells. These cells are still around even though Lacks died over fifty years ago (Josefson). The scary part of this story is that an inconceivable amount of money has been made from HeLa cells, yet the Lack's family has never seen any profits from them (Josefson). Showing just how corrupt the United States health care system has become, since everything is about making a profit and not just helping people. According to the case Washington University vs. Catalona, in 2006 tissues are "highly-prized biological materials" that have "become nothing more than chattel going to the highest bidder" (Ng Thow). This means that tissue is like property, such as real-estate, that could go to anyone who wants it enough to pay the price. Tissue is no longer just about research, it's now also about making a profit, but patients still get the cheated when it comes to the revenue made, since they hardly ever receive