A phased consent policy for cord blood donation.
This article focuses on ethical and policy questions concerning when consent may be sought for the collection and donation of cord blood. It reviews the advantages and disadvantages of alternative times for securing consent, challenges common objections to seeking consent during labor or after collection, and describes a phased consent process--a process that permits consent during early labor to the ex utero collection of cord blood followed by after-consent collection to donation. The phased consent policy attends to the unique characteristics of cord blood collection and donation, respects donors and their families, maximizes the number and diversity of cord blood units collected, preserves the relationship between providers and patients, and preserves public trust in cord blood and other types of tissue banking.
Vawter
Dorothy E
DE
Minnesota Center for Health Care Ethics, 601 25th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. devawter@stkate.edu
Rogers-Chrysler
Gayl
G
Clay
Mary
M
Pittelko
Larrie
L
Therkelsen
Dave
D
Kim
Debora
D
McCullough
Jeffrey
J
D000328:Adult; D001771:Blood Banks; D001782:Blood Donors; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D006801:Humans; D007747:Labor Stage, First; D007749:Labor Stage, Third; D008499:Medical Records; D033282:Parental Consent / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology; D028701:Patient Rights; D010920:Placenta; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011640:Public Policy; D013997:Time Factors; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D035502:Trust