Unclaimed Bodies in Texas Research: 5 Crucial Findings
27 days ago
The University of North Texas Health Science CenterPhoto byNBC NEWS
This post includes content modified using AI.
A 10-month NBC News investigation revealed that Dallas and Tarrant counties shipped unclaimed bodies to a Texas medical school for medical training and research without permission from the deceased or their families. Health Science Center officials defended their methods, claiming that utilizing unclaimed bodies was crucial for training future doctors.
After journalists conveyed their detailed results, the center announced it was immediately suspending its body donation program and firing the officials who led it.
Importance of Unclaimed Bodies in Research
The utilization of unclaimed bodies - those bodies not requested by immediate family members for burial or cremation - for gross anatomy instruction in the United States has significantly reduced since the mid-20th century. This decline can be attributed to the rise in voluntary body donations and the growing ethical considerations within the field.
Throughout history, anatomy laboratories traditionally depended on the use of bodies from unclaimed sources, including executed criminals, and sometimes even engaged in the unethical practice of grave robbery.
Donation Process
The donation process is straightforward. At any time before death, a Donor Registration Form may be filled out, signed by the donor, witnessed, and returned to one of the Human Gift Registries. A donor card is returned to the donor after processing.
Regulatory Framework
The University of North Texas Health Center in Fort Worth has used hundreds of unclaimed bodies in the past five years. A half-century ago, it was common for U.S. medical schools to use unclaimed bodies, which remains legal in most of the country, including Texas.
The bodies used were carved up and distributed to medical device makers, universities, and the Army. Recipients rented body parts for practice, paying hundreds of dollars per part—$900 for the torso, and $341 for leg.
The use of unclaimed bodies for research challenges modern ethics, upsetting families facing the unexpected dissection of their loved ones. Despite ethical issues, Texas law allows this practice, consistent with laws in many states.
Death operatives frequently forget to reach family members before announcing bodies unclaimed. Considerable families only knew what occurred to their loved ones months or even years afterward
."It's like a hole in your soul that can never be filled," Brenda Cloud, the sister of Army veteran Victor Honey, whose body was dissected and leased, said. "We feel violated."
The medical school saved the county $500,000 yearly on burial costs. The school earned $2.5 million annually selling body parts to medical and tech companies.
State Anatomical Advisory Committee advises on regulatory matters for willed body programs, non-transplant anatomical donation organizations, and anatomical facilities in the state.
The commission shall distribute bodies and specimens to authorized recipients for study or research.
The commission shall establish rules for the respectful treatment of bodies and specimens in its custody or by authorized persons.
Challenges
When there are no specific laws in place at the state or national levels, the duty of deciding how much effort should be exerted to locate the families of unclaimed individuals rests with the individual coroner's offices.
Most coroner's offices do not post the names of unclaimed dead to NamUs (NamUs) a free federal program that helps families find unclaimed loved ones.
Families spend months or years searching for loved ones who are already dead and identified.
Future Directions
Unclaimed bodies linked to dark past before body donation programs. U.S. medical schools used "resurrectionists" to dig up the graves of poor, formerly enslaved.
States enforced laws allowing schools to use unclaimed bodies for student training. These laws, dating back to the 19th century, are outdated as the medical community no longer relies on them.
"The American Association for Anatomy released guidelines for human body donation last year stating that “programs should not accept unclaimed or unidentified individuals into their programs as a matter of justice.”
More than 50 major U.S. medical schools were surveyed. Each of the 44 that answered said they don’t use unclaimed bodies — and some condemned doing so.
NamUs is a free federal program aiding families in finding unclaimed loved ones. It is public and searchable on Google for information on missing and unclaimed individuals.
Most states and D.C.s lack a mandate for agencies to upload missing and unidentified person information on NamUs. There is also no statewide requirement for coroners to share details about unclaimed deceased individuals.
A potential improvement would mandate that coroners and medical examiners update NamUs.
They want you to pay for taking the parts, and the other side to pay to get it or they give ,donate it.
Kaci Palmer
26d ago
When my dad passed in 2017, he was taken to tarrant county medical examiners office. I had an extremely hard time with his passing and the medical examiner told me if I didn't get a funeral home to pick him up within the next week (they only give you 2 weeks to figure something out) then they were donating his body to science. It totally devastated me because I had no money and neither did he.
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