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Property Law CUNY Spring 2021

Paying Tissue Donors: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks

The issue of whether to pay tissue donors is a complex one, that is still being considered.  This medical ethics opinion from 2012 NIH publication, although acknowledging the wrong done to Henrietta Lacks, comes down on the Moore side, ultimately concluding that  "[w]hile the intuition that tissue donors should be financially compensated for their donation is commendable, as a policy matter this approach is ethically and practically problematic."