Islamic Center of Southern California

The Arguments of Islamic Law Rulings on Recent Medical Issues

Topic Thirty Two

Human Skin Banks

Definition

The success of skin graft operations created a need to set up skin banks, where skin of all types is stored until needed for medical purposes, as the case is with milk banks. Skin is stored in these banks in three ways:

1. refrigeration at a degree of 4°, in which case the skin can be kept for three weeks;

2. freezing, of which the most advanced method uses liquid nitrogen, and in this case the skin can be kept for as long as six months, or even longer, depending on the freezing degree, the normal degree being -90°; and

3. freeze-drying, which keeps the skin in the form of a powder for a period of eighteen months at room temperature. The freeze-dried skin can be re-liquidized by mixing it with a normal salt solution and covering the injured areas with it.

The Legal Position Chosen by the IOMS and Its Argument

The IOMS has admitted the establishment of human skin banks under legal conditions and controls. In covering the topic of skin grafts, the recommendations of the IOMS eighth seminar say:

It is permissible to establish a bank to store human skin, taking into consideration the following:

a. The bank should be under the control of the state or a trustworthy authority supervised by the state.

b. The storage of human skin should not exceed actual and projected needs.

c. The pieces of skin which are discarded should be respected by getting them buried and should never be thrown in the garbage. Islamic Center of Southern California