[A judgement in litigation over return of pathological samples]

The son of a deceased patient filed a law suit against a medical school hospital for return of all the pathological samples (paraffin blocks and preparations) made from part of the patient's corpse. The reason cited is that the samples included at least one type about which he had not given consent. The Tokyo distinct court passed a judgement, rejecting the defendant's claim that the consent was meant to be all-inclusive, and ordered the defendant to return all the samples still in their possession to the litigant. This judgement made the legal meaning clear as to the permission of a decreased person's family, both from the standpoint of public law and from that of private law. The judgement made the first impression on permitting their ownership.