Moore v. Regents of the University of California

Moore v. Regents of the University of California was a landmark 1990 Supreme Court of California decision. It dealt with the issue of property rights to one's own cells taken in samples by doctors or researchers.

In 1976, John Moore was treated for hairy cell leukemia by physician David Golde, a cancer researcher at the UCLA Medical Center. Moore's cancer cells were later developed into a cell line that was commercialized by Golde and UCLA. The California Supreme Court ruled that a patient's discarded blood and tissue samples are not their personal property and that individuals do not have rights to a share in the profits earned from commercial products or research derived from their cells. Afterwards, most U.S. courts have followed the decision in ruling against family members who sue researchers and universities over "improper commercialization" of their dead family member's body parts.

Background

John Moore first visited UCLA Medical Center on October 5, 1976, after he was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia. Physician and cancer researcher David Golde took samples of Moore's blood, bone marrow, and other bodily fluids to confirm the diagnosis, and also recommended a splenectomy because of the potentially fatal amount of swelling in Moore's spleen. Moore signed a written consent form authorizing the procedure that said that the hospital could "dispose of any severed tissue or member by cremation". His spleen was thereafter removed by surgeons, who were not named as defendants, at UCLA Medical Center.