Don du corps à la science

Abstract

In Nice, as in the other twenty-seven Body Donation Centers in France, the application of the 2022 decree on body donation (decree No. 2022-719 of April 27, 2022) has had a significant impact on its internal operations, in view of three major legislative changes: confirmation that donation and all related costs (transport, coffin, burial, serological samples where applicable) are free of charge, the choice of burial is left to donors, requiring the lifting of anonymity in the event of ashes being recovered, and the creation of a Scientific and Educational Ethics Committee which now monitors all research work and programs authorized in the structure receiving the deceased. Thanks to the annual activity report of the Centre des dons du corps (CDC) des Alpes Maritimes, it is possible to obtain a snapshot of its activity in terms of data relating to registrations and admissions carried out over the year 2023. Analysis of the information collected in the donation consent form has made it possible to extract donors’ preferences with regard to the fate of their body after completion of the anatomical work. The aim of this study was to measure the organizational and functional impact of the reform on the activities of the Nice body donor center, a few months after the publication of the implementing decree, and to raise the new ethical issues raised by this reform.