Rapporteur: Professor Margareta Mikkelsen
In 1989 the European Community adopted a directive on medicinal products derived from human blood or human plasma. The directive triggered protests in France.
By referring to human blood and human plasma as starting material and blood derivatives as 'medicinal products', the Directive appeared to make them tradeable goods, which conflicted with the principle that the human body was not a marketable commodity and offended human dignity.
' The following ethical principles should be stressed in the Directive:
The expression "medicinal products" as applied to products derived from blood should not be rejected as these products are used as therapeuticals, and this term gives a guarantee of quality to the products through the authorization process related to medical products.'