What's the difference between sperm samples and discarded toenails?
Former is still a man's property, judge rules in landmark case
By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Sperm samples - given by the men after they were warned by doctors that chemotherapy might damage their fertility - were the property of the six NHS patients who can claim damages for the loss according to the ruling today
Six cancer patients whose sperm samples were lost by the NHS have won their claim for damages in a landmark judgement which establishes the legal principle that a man's semen is his own property.
The case, which could cost the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation, is expected to lead to a review of the law relating to ownership of human body parts.
In yesterday's judgment the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, the most senior judge in England and Wales, rejected the notion that sperm held by North Bristol NHS Trust had the same legal status as a discarded toenail or hair cut at a barber's shop. More
Thursday, February 5, 2009
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