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Body donation in Italy: Lights and shadows of law No. 10/2020
Author(s) -
BoscoloBerto Rafael,
Porzionato Andrea,
Stecco Carla,
Macchi Veronica,
De Caro Raffaele
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
clinical anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1098-2353
pISSN - 0897-3806
DOI - 10.1002/ca.23623
Subject(s) - donation , legislature , medicine , constructive , organ donation , law , subject matter , public relations , process (computing) , political science , transplantation , surgery , curriculum , operating system , computer science
Recently, law No. 10 of February 10, 2020, entitled “Rules regarding the disposition of one's body and post‐mortem tissues for study, training, and scientific research purposes” was introduced in Italy. Although its provisions respond to a constructive subject, some practical issues are evident in the approved text. Materials and Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed by searching online medical and juridical databases to identify publications and Italian law provisions related to body donation programs. Results The updated regulatory framework was outlined and compared to that in force previously, and the following features are discussed: (a) matter of law; (b) donors' information and consent; (c) reference centers and funding, and (d) procedural regulatory details. Several critical issues were detected in the approved wording with respect to teaching/training recipients, the role of university anatomy institutes, family members' exclusion from participating in the donation process in any capacity, the duration of donation, the management of corpses, partial donations, and the compatibility with organ donation. Suggestions are provided to overcome certain operational limitations in implementing the regulation, which is still being drafted to date. Conclusions This article shares with the international scientific community the principles and controversies underlying a regulatory innovation introduced in Italy to allow legislative amendments to inadequate provisions of body donation, as well as draw the attention of the entire anatomic community to critical issues if other countries undertake the same legislative reform.