Use of the dead body in healthcare and medical training: Mapping and balancing the legal rights and values

European Journal of Health Law

Volumn 18, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 277-291

  Herrmann, Janne Rothmar ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN   (Denmark)

Author keywords

autopsy; dead body; dignity; educational display; medical training; scientific use

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CADAVER; COMMERCIAL PHENOMENA; EUROPE; HUMAN; HUMAN RIGHTS; INFORMED CONSENT; LEGAL ASPECT; MEDICAL EDUCATION; PERSONAL AUTONOMY;

CADAVER; COMMERCE; EDUCATION, MEDICAL; EUROPE; HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMANS; INFORMED CONSENT; PERSONAL AUTONOMY;

EID: 80053472302     PISSN: 09290273     EISSN: 15718093     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157180911X574137     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. J. Yorke, "Introduction: The Right to Life and the Value of Life: Orientations in Law, Politics and Ethics" in: J. Yorke (ed.), The Right to Life and the Value of Life, (Farnham: Ashgate 2010) 8-12.
2. I.M. Kaufmann, F.J. Rühli, "Without informed consent? Ethics and ancient mummy research". Journal of Medical Ethics 36 (10) (2010) 608-613, S. Holm, "The Privacy of Tutankhamen - Utilising the Genetic Information in Stored Tissue Samples", Theoretical Medicine 22(5) (2001) 437-449 and E. Partridge, "Posthumous interests and posthumous respect", Ethics 91(2) (1981) 243-264.
3. K.R. Smolensky, "Rights of the Dead", Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper no. 06-27. March 10, 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2010 http://ssrn.com/abstract=924499.
4. Cf. recital 3 of the preamble of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.
5. This special status of the human being rests on both religious and secular interpretations. In Christian terms the dignified and decent treatment and disposal of the human being is connected to the belief that man was created in the image of God. In secular moral philosophy the special status of the human being is founded in the qualities and relations that are unique to the human existence, e.g. the ability to interact socially, to reason and to have conscious wishes and values. See more in depth António Barbosa da Silva, "Autonomy, Dignity and Integrity in Healthcare Ethics - A Moral Philosophy Perspective", in: H.S. Aasen, R. Halvorsen and A. Barbosa da Silva (eds.), Human Rights, Dignity and Autonomy in Healthcare and Social Services: Nordic Perspectives, (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2009), chapter 1.
6. See more in depth H.S. Aasen, "Dignity and Human Rights in the Modern Welfare State", in: H.S. Aasen, R. Halvorsen and A. Barbosa da Silva (eds.), Human Rights, Dignity and Autonomy in Healthcare and Social Services: Nordic Perspectives, (Antwerp: Intersentia, 2009), 58-59.
7. This interpretation of dignity is supported by the line of reasoning made by the ECtHR in Laskey, Jaggard and Brown v. UK, application nos. 21627/93, 21826/93, 21974/93, judgment of 19 February 1997 and was expressly articulated in the French "dwarf-throwing case": Conseil d'État judgment of 27 October 1995, req. no. 136-727 (Commune de Morsang-sur-Orge). Retrieved 4 October 2010 www .lexinter.net/JPTXT2/arret-commune-de-morsang-sur-orge.htm.
8. Éditions Plon v. France, application no. 58148/00, judgment of 18 May 2004.
9. Para. 9.
10. Para. 34.
11. Para. 53.
12. Application no. 2346/02, Judgment of 29 April 2002, paras. 61-67.
13. Application no. 19807/06, decision on the admissibility of 11 July 2007, the law, para. 1.
14. Application no. 31322/07 (only available in French), judgment of 20 January 2011, para. 51.
15. X v. Germany, application no. 8741/79, decision of 10 March 1981.
16. As mentioned supra the European Court of Human Rights has since affirmed a similar view in the subsequent cases of Pretty v. UK, Burke v. UK and Haas v. Switzerland.
17. See also Elli Poluhas v. Sweden, application no. 61564/00, judgment of 17 January 2006.
18. See the Berlin Treaty (League of Nations, 1937), Pan American Health Organisation & WHO, resolution XXIX on international transportation of human remains, adopted October 7th, 1966 and the Council of Europe's Agreement on the Transfer of Corpses, ETS 80, 11 November 1975.
19. C. Waldby, The Visible Human Project: Informatic Bodies and Posthuman Medicine, (Florence, KY: Routledge, 2000).
20. The notion of private life under Art. 8 of the ECHR also extends to the deceased, at least for a period of time after death. See more in depth supra and Editions Plon v. France, application no. 58148/00.
21. A photograph is available online. Retrived 7 October 2010. www.mik.dk/Din-guide/Fokus/Medicinsk-Museion/Siamesisk-tvilling.aspx.
22. See the programme's website. Retrieved 10 October 2010 http://icmm.ku.dk/english/donation/.
23. I.e. relatives are not entitled to donate the body of a deceased family member to science. This includes the parents or guardians of minor children.
24. § 24 of the Danish Act on infectious and epidemic diseases, Act no. 814 of 27 August 2009.
25. See more in depth e.g. D.P. Fidler, International Law and Infectious Diseases, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999), chapter 6.
26. See more in depth e.g., Oxford: Clarendon Press
27. See online at: http://www.who.int/ethics/topics/transplantation-guiding- principles/en/index1.html,accessed 8 February 2011.
28. See the Explanatory Report to the Convention, para. 131.
29. An interesting analysis regarding the exchange of human bodily material can be found in K. Hoeyer, "Tradable Body Parts? How Bone and Recycled Prosthetic Devices Acquire a Price without Forming a Market", BioSocieties (4) (2009) pp. 239-256.
30. Bodyworlds. Retrieved 5 October 2010. www.bodyworlds.com/en/plastination/ plastination-process.html.
31. T. Walter,"Plastination for Display: A New Way to Dispose of the Dead", Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 2004 (10), pp. 603-627
32. See also C. Seal, Constructing Death - The Sociology of Dying and Bereavement, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998) 4-8.