BMJ 2002; 325(7365) ( 21 Sep )
Survey: Consent for using leftover body material for scientific purposes
Accompanying a debate in the journal, we conducted a straw poll on the web site, asking:
"Should consent be sought for using left over body material for scientific purposes?"
The final result, with 266 people responding, was:
Yes No Medically qualified doctor 39(29%) 95(70%) Other health care professional 15(48%) 16(51%) Academic researcher 29(54%) 24(45%) Patient or patient support group 7(77%) 2(22%) Member of the public 18(62%) 11(37%) Other 5(50%) 5(50%) TOTALS Yes: 113(42%) No: 153(57%)