Human organs legislation announced

Proposals for new legislation on human organs and tissue have been announced today by the Department of Health.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Henrietta Campbell, said change was necessary because current law was neither "comprehensive nor as clear and consistent as it might be".

Under the proposed new law, explicit consent would become the fundamental principle underpinning the lawful removal, storage and use of bodies, body parts, organs and tissue.

The proposals include a regulatory framework within which a new body – the Human Tissue Authority – would be responsible for licensing and inspecting regulated activities.

Another important element of the legislation would be the creation of new offences and penalties for undertaking certain activities (including DNA testing) without consent or without a licence.

“For the past two years we have been working closely with colleagues in the rest of the United Kingdom and listening carefully to what both the public and the Health and Social Services expect of the new legislation," Dr Campbell said.

"Last June I offered an unconditional apology to grieving relatives and promised that through new law, new systems and new procedures we would not allow the failures of the past to be repeated. I believe that these proposals represent the best way forward for patients, relatives and members of the HPSS. The same legislation and regulatory system will also apply in England and Wales," she added.

Work on drafting the legislation is continuing and it will be next year, at the earliest, before these proposals become law.

(MB)