Ethical considerations of using the deceased as medical research subjects
10.12026/j.issn.1001-8565.2025.11.10
- VernacularTitle:以死者作为医学研究对象的伦理考量
- Author:
Zhaolong LU
1
;
Xiaoyun CHEN
1
;
Yongchuan CHEN
2
;
Mengjie YANG
3
;
Qiang LIU
4
;
Hui JIANG
5
;
Zhonglin CHEN
6
Author Information
1. Office of Medical Ethics， Longhua Hospital， Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine， Shanghai 201203， China
2. Department of Pharmacy， the First Affiliated Hospital of the Army Medical University， Chongqing 400038， China
3. Medical Ethics Committee， Zhongshan Hospital， Fudan University， Shanghai 200032， China
4. Evaluation Centre， World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies， Beijing 100101， China
5. Department of Science and Education， Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University， Zhangzhou 363000， China
6. Ethics Committee， Shanghai Chest Hospital， Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine， Shanghai 200030， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
the deceased;
remains;
ethical review;
informed consent
- From:
Chinese Medical Ethics
2025;38(11):1447-1452
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
The relevant laws and regulations regarding the utilization of the deceased as medical research subjects are not yet fully developed in China nowadays. Taking the deceased as research subjects as a starting point， this paper discussed the definition of the deceased and the scope of their interest protection from multiple perspectives. It posited that the scope of interest protection for the deceased encompassed two components： spiritual personality interests and material personality interests represented by the remains. The spiritual personality interests of the deceased included identification information such as name， portrait， reputation， honor， privacy， and personal information， as well as medical and health information. The personal information of the deceased was not directly affected by the individual’s life and death status and remained relatively independent. In terms of ethical review， the research team approached from two perspectives： the remains and the personal information of the deceased. Based on the standard of whether the research subjects involve a human body， research with the remains of the deceased as the medical research subjects was classified as non-clinical research. According to the standard of whether a human body is clinically operated， research with the personal information of the deceased （including medical and health information） as the medical research subjects was recognized as clinical research without human research operation. This approach provided evidence for the application of existing laws and regulations in ethical review and record management. The ethical review of investigator-initiated clinical research conducted in medical and health institutions， as well as the regulatory conditions for exemption from ethical review， were examined. The forms， content， and acquisition of informed consent were summarized， and the risk-benefit characteristics of the research activity were evaluated， with a view to providing a basis for the smooth and compliant implementation of research activities involving the deceased as medical research subjects.
