biospecimens

JMIR Publications recently published “Nonfungible Tokens as a Blockchain Solution to Ethical Challenges for the Secondary Use of Biospecimens: Viewpoint” in JMIR Bioinformatics and Biotechnology in which the authors discuss how current practices of de-identifying human samples  for research is reminiscent of the treatment of Henrietta Lacks’s tissue in 1951. They highlight how current standards continue to release researchers and health systems from obligations to promote respect, beneficence, and justice for patients. This historical case illuminates ethical challenges for the secondary use of biospecimens, which persist in contemporary learning health systems. De-identification and broad consent seek to maximize the benefits of learning from care byRead More →