Human Tissue Act 2004 Human Tissue Act 2004 The Human Tissue Act 2004 (c 30) is an act of the UK parliament applying to England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It consolidates previous legislation and created the Human Tissue Authority to "regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue." The Act was brought about as a consequence of, among things, the Alder Hey organs scandal, in which organs of children had been retained by the Alder Hey Children's Hospital without consent, and the Kennedy inquiry into heart surgery on children at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. A consultative exercise followed the
Human Tissue Authority and tissue from the living or the deceased for specified health-related purposes and public display. It also covers the removal of such material from the deceased. It lists the purposes for which consent is required (the "scheduled purposes"). The Act notably prohibited private individuals from covertly collecting biological samples, such as hair and fingernails, for DNA analysis, but excluded medical and criminal investigations from the offence. According to the Human Tissue Act, the HTA and its authority are governed by a code of conduct for the handling of human tissue, and the bodies of the deceased, but does not give