Amira Sayed Is it permissible to remove parts from a dead person's body without the consent of his family? A complaint against Qasr El Ayni Hospital over this issue recently sparked a heated public discussion. A man complained that following the death of his brother, who had undergone cardiac surgery at the hospital, the hospital had ‘stolen' the cornea of one of his brother's eyes. The debate was further stoked when the Dean of Cairo University's Faculty of Medicine stressed the legality of taking a dead person's cornea without the consent of his or her family if the patient was receiving medical treatment in a public hospital. Dr Mahmoud Refaat, a resident at the hospital, told The Egyptian Gazette: "For years, patients who are being treated at public hospitals sign a consent form permitting removal of their corneasin the event of their death. They consider signing the form a routine matter prior to undergoing surgery, so they often sign the form without reading it. But doctors, used, in the past, to inform the patient's family although they were not obliged to do so." Bearing in mind that corneas can give blind people a new life and that eye banks in Cairo and Ain Shams Universities are suffering from the scarcity of corneas due to the hefty cost of importing them from abroad, Refaat pointed out that lack of a donation culture in the country was the reason for the debate. "From a medical angle, the cornea is a tissue not an organ. It is a very small transparent part of the eye. The law prohibits taking dead persons' organs, not tissues." There are strict regulations, he said, organising this issue. " First, doctors are obliged to replace the cornea they have removed with an artificial tissue in order not to distort the shape of the dead person's eyes. Also, corneas cannot be taken from a dead person who had an infectious disease," he said. "We need to launch more awareness campaigns. This should be given top priority by the Ministry of Health." Dr Mohamed Amin, a cardiologist at a private hospital, said he understands the objection of the patient's family. The Constitution is considered the mother of laws. And, the constitution does not differentiate between organs and tissues. "Taking any part of the human body should be preceded by the consent of all parties: patient, family and hospital," he said. He was aware, he said, that eye banks are facing many challenges. "The solution is to allocate more funds for these banks to be able to get the corneas." He said it was not fair to force helpless patients to consent to giving away his cornea after his death to be able to do certain operation. Everyone should be given full freedom to deal with his body. Citizens should not be put under pressure to donate any part of their body, he said. "As a doctor, I fully understand the hospitals' motivations and also the families' fears. So, we need community dialogue before taking any action. Also there should be strict monitoring in hospitals to avoid malpractice."
