patenting life
John Moore was diagnosed with hairy-cell leukemia in 1976. Under directions from his doctor, Mr. Moore’s spleen was removed. Among other things, Mr. Moore continued to visit his doctor for seven years following his diagnosis. During these visits, the doctor took tissue samples of bone marrow, skin a and sperm, which Mr. Moore assumed were necessary procedures to prevent the reoccurrence of cancer. After discovering that he had become patent #4,438,032, John Moore learned that the doctor was patenting unique chemicals from Mr. Moore’s blood for a multi-million dollar contract. Moore sued the doctor for malpractice and property theft. The California Supreme court refused to recognize that Moore had property rights over his own body, however. The doctor argued that because Mr. Moore did not possess the ability to manipulate his own body tissues into a socially useful product, he could not claim a right of ownership to these tissues. One concession the court did make to Mr. Moore was the right to sue his doctor for a breach of fiduciary duty and lack of informed consent. This issue and others are on the forefront of a growing debate over the patenting of life. Should we
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
John Moore, Guinea Grace, Thomas Jefferson, Medical School, Eli Lilly, California Supreme, Supreme Court, Myriad Pharmaceutical, Sequana Therapeutics, Scientists Electric, cell lines, john moore, human cell lines, owns patents, own body, human insulin, monopoly ownership, patent laws, patents human, supreme court, human genes,
Approximate Word count = 1174
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
