Legal Issues in Tissue Bank

Jung, Kyu Won

Abstract

Tissue transplantation is a modern medical technology which develops rapidly and raises many ethical, legal, and political issues. In Korea, many tissue transplantations are performed and many tissue banks seem to be managed. However, there are no legal regulations and standards which control these behaviors. When we discuss tissue transplantations and tissue banking, the safety of tissues, the respect for donors' autonomy, the proper operation of the tissue bank, and the fair distribution of the tissues must be taken into account. And the autonomic regulation by medical professionals must be considered. An Act that controls tissue transplantation and tissue banking must be established, and must be enforced. The Act must be in harmony with the autonomic regulation by medical professionals. The practices that may pose severe risk to human body or threat to human life must be banned, and persons who perform this kind of practices must be punished. However, if the practices remain within the acceptable range, medical professionals can do their practices legally.