Informed consent has new meaning for me now. I had surgery on Friday and I signed many consent forms. It was 6 to be exact. They ranged from questions regarding death, to consent forms regarding transfusions, what can and can’t be done to help me. The following release and consent form was the one that related the most to class. I basically had to sign this paper for me to get operated on. It stated

I consent to the transfusion of blood or blood products as deemed necessary by my physician. I have been informed how a transfusion is given. I understand that a blood or blood products transfusion does not always successfully produce a desirable result and that a transfusion may produce ill effects. I understand that transfusions involve risk of incompatibility reaction, allergic reaction, circulatory volume overload, fever, hives, and in rare circumstances infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS. I understand risks and complications. I have been informed of possible alternative forms of treatment, including non- treatment.

I am not so much of pragmatists that I refused to sign this release / consent form, however it made me weary. If something had gone wrong I think that I would have wanted the option of donating my own blood for myself. That idea was introduced in the Tissue Economies book and I think that would have been the best option for me. The next bullet on the consent form really made me laugh and think about those money hungry doctors.

Ant tissues or parts surgically removed may be disposed of or utilized for educational or research purposes by the hospital or physician in accordance with accustomed standards.
What do accustomed standards mean? Dictionary.com says that accustomed means customary, usual, and habitual. Basically they are saying that people’s waste parts are being utilized for education and research everyday and all of the time so that the process is normal, habitual, in common processes. My next question was what does utilized mean? Does that have any implication for selling my parts? Dictionary.com says that to utilize is to put to use; turn to profitable account. How much does a small piece of vertebrae and disc material go for in the markets today? I wonder. I will get into that next post.
In the Moore case introduced to us in the tissue economies book by Catherine Waldby and Robert Mitchell was a similar happening. Moore had a diseased spleen similar to my hurtful disc. He had it removed and so did I. The only difference here is that Moore’s spleen had a very rare ability to produce lymphokines. Moore’s spleen was later transformed into a very valuable cell line. Moore challenged the doctors he had and the University of California for rights to this cell line. The 3 courts that Mr. Moore went through finally said Moore had no rights to the cell line profits. If I were to act upon my removed disc I would too not have any rights over it. The Moore case was one of the most controversial cases of its time. However it did not set a large amount of precedents. In the next section of the book cord blood was discussed.
“After cutting the cord . . . the doctor usually tosses [the umbilical cord] into a stainless steel bucket with the rest of the medical waste bound for incineration.” ( Kline 2001:114 ) In earlier years this placenta and umbilical cord was just thrown away and had no value. The photo of the umbilical cord and the placenta makes you wonder why this is so valuable now. Why is the nurse carefully harvesting this resource, that is because over the past 15 years or so cord blood has become very valuable for its ability to be used instead of bone marrow. Cord blood has become important because it is from you, meaning that there is no HLA matching needed or testing to be done. Your cord blood that was donated when you were a baby is an exact match and can be used immediately. The cord blood is used to cure blood diseases such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and other diseases.
The pages we read in the tissues economy book were linked together by an overarching theme. This theme was what constitutes property in the human tissues aspect. In the Moore case Mr. Moore’s spleen was not his property as ruled by the Supreme Court. It was not his because he had it removed as a favor to him to save his life. Once removed the diseased spleen was then considered “waste.” Once the spleen was considered waste in the legal system it was able to be sold and manufactured into a cell line, which Mr. Moore had no part of. In the chapter following cord blood was considered property of the donor. This is because cord blood was not considered waste at any point of the harvesting process. So in the United States as long as a human tissue is not considered waste it can be the property of the donor. The owner is the parents of the donor or the donor themselves. They donated this for themselves to hopefully later if this cord blood was needed it could be used to save the life of the person. I was very interested in private cord blood banking so I went online to see how much it costs. Cord blood is a very expensive thing to bank for you. It costs anywhere from 900 to 2,100 dollars when the baby is born and an additional 100 or so dollars for every year it is kept. For instance if the blood is used say when the child is 13 the total cost for storing that blood is 3,400 dollars. That seems like a bunch of money for a possible not guaranteed cure for a blood disease.
Cord blood banking. (2007, October). Retrieved from http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/cordbloodbanking.html
Cord blood and Placenta. [Online image] Available. Retrieved from http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/cord%20blood%202.jpg retrieved Jan 29, 2010.
Tanks. [Online image] Available. Retrieved from http://www.shanghaicordblood.org/imgs/tank.gif retrieved Jan 29, 2010

Waldby, Cathrine, & Mitchell, Robert. (2006). Tissues economies blood, organs, and cell lines in late capitalism. Durham NC: Duke University.