Eur J Anat, 16 (1): 1-21 (2012)

The legal and ethical framework governing Body Donation in Europe â?? 1st update on current practice

Beat M. Riederer¹, S. Bolt², Eric Brenner³, José L. Bueno-López⁴, A.R.M. Circulescu⁵, D.C. Davies⁶, Raffaele De Caro⁷, P.O. Gerrits⁸, Stephen McHanwell⁹, Diogo Pais¹⁰, Friedrich Paulsen¹¹, Odile Plaisant¹², Erdogan Sendemir¹³, I. Stabile¹⁴, Bernard J. Moxham¹⁵

¹Department of Cell Biology and Morphology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Switzerland ²Center for Thanatology, Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands ³Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Division for Clinical and Functional Anatomy, Innsbruck Medical University, Müllerstrasse 59, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria ⁴Departemento de Neurociencias, Facultad de Medicina y Odontologia, Universidad del País Vasco, 48940 Leioa, Spain ⁵Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, C Davila University, Bucharest, Romania ⁶Imperial College, London ⁷Section of Anatomy, Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Padova, Via A Gabelli 65, 35127 Padova, Italy ⁸Department of Neuroscience, Section Anatomy, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands ⁹Oral Biology, 5th Floor, School of Dental Sciences, Dental School, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4BW, UK ¹⁰Departamento de Deontologia, Bioética e DireitoMédico, Faculdade de CiênciasMédicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 130, 1169-056 Lisboa, Portugal ¹¹Department of Anatomy II, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Universitätsstr. 19, 91054 Erlangen, Germany ¹²Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de médecine, URDIA, EA 4465, Paris, France ¹³Anatomy Department, Medical Faculty, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey ¹⁴Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta ¹⁵School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AP, UK

ABSTRACT Previously, we have reported on the legal and ethical aspects and current practice of body donation in several European countries, reflecting cultural and religious variations as well as different legal and constitutional frameworks. We have also established good practice in body donation. Here we shall further extend the legal and ethical frameworks in place and also focus on novelties in the law and different directives. Of particular interest are points that address the commercialization of human bodies and body parts and weaknesses in the legal directives. Therefore, it is important to define what is ethical and what needs to be considered unethical in body donation and the subsequent utilisation of human bodies for teaching and research.

Keywords: Body donation, European Community, Legal and ethical aspects