Organ transplantation has, over a period of a few decades, evolved from a daring experimental medical procedure to a widely used health technology. Many lives have been saved, and the quality of life of many other persons has been immeasurably improved. There is now an abundant literature on the medical aspects of transplantation, and an increasing number of books on the legal and ethical aspects -- aspects with which WHO has been concerned since the World Health Assembly first took up the matter in 1986. This book is the first global collection of laws and regulations dealing with organ transplantation. Also included are the texts of some of the key international and European declarations and statements on the subject. Most of the materials that appear in the book were originally published in the WHO's International Digest of Health Legislation, but have never been collected in one volume before. This book will be useful to parliamentarians, health policy makers, surgeons and other health professionals involved in transplantation, transplant coordinators, ethicists, and others interested in in-depth information on how different governments and institutions have responded to the considerable ethical, legal and policy challenges posed by this important branch of curative medicine.

This paper examines the legal and medical aspects of procuring and transferring natural human tissues and bodily substances relative to emerging tissue replacement technologies. It discusses the medical need for and the supply of human tissue and bodily substances and the emerging legal and ethical dilemmas provoked by demand and supply disequilibria; analyses the underlying ethical considerations of tissue procurement; examines existing law on the human body through the common, civil, and criminal law; examines the leading legal approaches to tissue transfer issues in foreign jurisdictions as well as legal issues presented by the international transfer of human therapeutic tissue and tissue replacement technology; and outlines arguments for and against major law reform options, proposing general principles and summarizing the recommendations.

Provides a comprehensive background of the ethical problems in tissue transplantation by explaining the historical development, breadth, and organization of the tissue industry, including the technical develoments that have made it simultaneously clinically relevant and an attractive market for investment capital. Contributions to the book come from an interdisciplinary group of scholars, industry representatives, government regulators, and not neast, families who have donated tissue from their dead loved ones.

Organ transplantation is a much-discussed subject, and the importance of living organ donation is increasing significantly. Yet despite all efforts, too few donor organs are available to help all patients in need. This book analyses whether the national legal regulations are also partly responsible for the organ shortage in the Member States of the European Union. In addition to a detailed analysis of the various national regulations, the main arguments in favour of and against legal restrictions on living organ donation are considered. Furthermore, the European Union’s authority is investigated, namely, whether it is entitled to establish statutory provisions for the Member States with respect to a harmonized regulation of living organ donation. Based on the results of the analysis, the author establishes a Best Practice Proposal for living organ donation.