X-Message-Number: 29277
From: "Basie" <>
Subject: New law would affect cryonics
Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 19:45:54 -0500

Experts: Safeguards lacking on cadavers By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer

LOS ANGELES - Despite recent ghoulish cases of illegal sales of human body 
parts, the nation still lacks a universal oversight system to prevent 
illicit marketing of cadavers donated to science, experts say.
The situation persists three years after a scandal rocked the University of 
California, Los Angeles and shed light on the booming body-parts business. 
Police this week arrested a former school official and a middleman for 
investigation of illegally trafficking parts of bodies that were willed for 
research.
"There was some hand-wringing after the UCLA case. But at the end of the 
day, I don't think we've seen any serious attempt by Congress or state 
legislatures to wrestle with this issue," said Arthur Caplan, a bioethics 
professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The demand for human body parts has skyrocketed in recent years. Cadavers 
donated to science are typically used by first-year medical students to hone 
their surgical skills or by experienced surgeons to practice new techniques 
to earn continuing education credits. Tissues are also used in various 
medical procedures.
Each year, thousands of cadavers are supplied to medical schools. Donors 
often sign a contract giving the school leeway to use the body as it sees 
fit. Some medical schools share cadavers when there is a surplus. In some 
states like Maryland, there is a central system that distributes donated 
bodies among medical schools for research.
It is illegal in the United States to sell body parts for profit, but there 
is no prohibition on suppliers charging acquisition and handling fees for 
body parts. Experts estimate a human body can sell for six figures if all 
parts are used.
Anatomy professor Todd R. Olson of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine 
in New York said there should be a national clearinghouse run by an 
independent group to track and distribute donated bodies supplied for 
research similar to the way organs are allocated for transplantation 
nationwide.
Olson admits a national clearinghouse overseeing cadavers would not prevent 
illegal sales of tissues and body parts, but he feels it would be better 
than the existing hodgepodge of rules.
"This system is so broken that until it's fixed, illegal activity will just 
continue," Olson said.
Authorities said the UCLA scheme reaped more than $1 million in profits 
between 1999 and 2004. Prosecutors alleged Henry Reid, the former head of 
UCLA's willed body program, sold remains to middleman Ernest Nelson, who in 
turned sold hundreds of body parts to more than 20 private medical private 
medical, pharmaceutical and hospital research companies. Lawyers for both 
men have denied wrongdoing.
The scandal prompted the suspension of UCLA's program for a year and forced 
the University of California system to examine its donation rules. Founded 
in 1950, the willed body program received about 175 donated bodies a year 
before it was suspended. It now receives eight to 15 bodies a month since 
restarting in 2005.
Prior to the UCLA case, the head of the willed body program at UC Irvine was 
fired after allegations surfaced that he sold spines taken from cadavers to 
an out-of-state research facility.
Former California Gov. George Deukmejian, who led a task force that looked 
into the UC system's donated body programs several years ago and made reform 
recommendations to the Board of Regents, said the new system is stronger.
"Before ... each one of these programs was more or less being operated 
independently at each campus," Deukmejian said. "We've built far more 
accountability into the process and much more control."
Among the changes is the creation of a new position that oversees all five 
willed body programs in the university system. Workers also have to pass 
criminal and financial background checks and must have security card access 
in some buildings, said UC spokeswoman Jennifer Ward.
In addition, a pilot program at UCLA in which cadavers are tracked by radio 
frequency devices will extend to other medical schools in the system, Ward 
said.
However, some experts say a high-tech fix is not a panacea. The most 
important thing is to hire ethical people who will not be tempted to sell 
body parts for profit and to have safeguards in place, said Ronn Wade, who 
heads the Maryland State Anatomy Board.
"The issue is public trust. If everything is behind closed door with no 
oversight and control, then it's scary," he said.

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