Cell Research and Consent

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/cell-research-and-consent.html

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To the Editor:

Re “Science Needs Your Cells” (Op-Ed, April 21):

Holly Fernandez Lynch and Steven Joffe insist that asking patients to consent to research using their cells is wrongheaded, an unnecessary “costly, bureaucratic headache.” They maintain that scientists should be able to collect and use discarded biospecimens without obtaining informed consent. They are wrong.

The writers assume that all research using leftover materials is about saving lives. Some researchers may want my cells to find a cure for a disease afflicting me or a family member. But there are also researchers who want my cells to develop a (better) prenatal test or a (better) abortifacient as a more effective way of “treating” the disease.

I may want to help the researchers who are looking for a cure, but not those who are looking to eliminate my kind. It is through the mechanism of informed consent that I am able to pursue my goals, and thwart the goals of some researchers.

FRANÇOISE BAYLISHALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

The writer is a bioethicist and philosopher at Dalhousie University.