Musculoskeletal Tissues and Human Skin: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Brazil’s Scientific Production

Abstract

This study performed a critical analysis about the ethical and legal standards of papers published in national and international journals involving clinical cases and research regarding musculoskeletal and cutaneous organs or tissue grafts, also including dissertations and thesis of Brazilian Universities. Three databases from 2000 to 2010 were used, which are Scielo, MEDLINE and BIREME. It was concluded that in many cases Bioethics principles and legal criteria were not adopted regarding acquisition, utilization and disposal of musculoskeletal and cutaneous tissues used in scientific trials, thus demonstrating the need of highlighting ethical and legal standards for those professionals who use this type of material.