A little-known 1962 law that allows hospitals to remove corneas from the deceased without first receiving consent from their families has come under the spotlight after a graphic video went viral in Egypt showing the body of a dead man at a Cairo hospital with bloody eye sockets.

According to the description of the video, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook, the deceased was 40-year-old Mohamed Abdel-Tawab, who died after being admitted to Qasr El-Ainy Hospital for heart surgery.

Abdel-Tawab's family says that the video was shot in the hospital's morgue and that it proves his eyes were stolen by hospital staff. The family has filed a legal case with the prosecution alleging that the hospital deliberately killed Abdel-Tawab in order to take his eyes.

The head of Qasr El-Ainy Hospital Dr Fathy Khodeir said that the cornea removal was not illegal. 

"The hospital did not take the cornea of the deceased, it only took the superficial surface of the cornea, which does not constitute a mutilation of the deceased," Khodeir said to the media on Tuesday.

Khodeir also said that according to the 1963 law regulating cornea transplants, public and university hospitals with cornea banks have the right to take the surface of the cornea from the deceased without prior consent from their families.

Controversial law

Khodeir said that the 1962 law should not be confused with a 2010 law on organ transplanting.

The 1962 law has been amended several times over the years, most notably in 2003 when it stipulated that public hospitals can take the surface of the cornea without deforming the deceased.

The amendments also stipulate that cornea banks can receive corneas from the following sources: those who state in their will that their organs are to be donated, accident victims that undergo autopsies ordered by the prosecution, and those who die at hospitals with licensed cornea banks, "as is the case with Qasr El-Ainy."

The amendments also stipulate that no consent is required from the families of those killed in accidents or die in hospitals that have cornea banks.

However, some are arguing that the law is unconstitutional, including MP Shereen Farrag.

Farrag told Ahram Online that the law contradicts with articles 60 and 61 of the 2014 constitution, which state that consent must be obtained from the family before organ removal or transplant can take place.

Farrag also alleges that Qasr El-Ainy Hospital "did not take a surface layer of the cornea, they took out the entire eye of the deceased," adding that she is awaiting a response to an urgent request that hospital officials be questioned before parliament.

"[If] anyone decides to take this case to the constitutional court, the court will instantly rule that the law is unconstitutional," she added.

The Ministry of Health has so far not commented on the incident.

The cornea is a transparent layer on the eye's surface that covers the iris, pupil and anterior chamber.

There are currently three official cornea banks in Egypt, two of which are not operating due to problems including a lack of cornea donations. The Qasr El-Ainy cornea bank is currently the only one operating in the country.

Thousands of patients are currently on the waiting list to receive cornea transplants.