Consent of the deceased or the bereaved family in the anatomical dissection and preservation of the dead body: from a viewpoint of medical jurisprudence and bioethics

In this article, I consider whether the consent of the deceased or the bereaved family is needed or not for the anatomical dissection and preservation of the dead body from a viewpoint of medical jurisprudence and bioethics. The conclusion can be summarized as follows: The Autopsy Law 1949 is applied to the anatomical dissection and preservation of the dead body. According to this law, in principle the consent of the bereaved family is needed. However, the consent of the deceased is not needed. From a viewpoint of bioethics, especially the principle of autonomy, the consent of the deceased should be required instead of the consent of the bereaved family. To fulfill the intention of the deceased, we need to wait for new legislation or the revision of the Autopsy Law. The important things are both the recognition of the meaningful role of anatomical dissection and preservation of the dead body in madical research and education, and the consideration of the viewpoint of bioethics, especially the principle of autonomy and the derivative notion of informed consent, in case of new legislation or revision of the Autopsy Law.

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