Selling Bodies at UCLA
Cadavers for sale at UCLA? That's the charge:The Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced criminal charges today against two men who allegedly ran a cadaver-trafficking scheme at UCLA's medical school, capping a three-year investigation that led to the temporary closure of the school's body donor program.-Art CaplanHenry Reid, 57, an embalmer who was director of the willed-body program from 1997 to 2004, was charged with conspiracy and grand theft for allegedly funneling donated bodies to a middleman, who then sold them to others for profit.
The middleman, Ernest Nelson, 49, was charged with conspiracy, grand theft and tax evasion. He has acknowledged cutting up about 800 cadavers and selling them to large medical research companies, including Johnson & Johnson; Nelson says the school authorized the sales, but UCLA officials say he was acting on his own.
Both Reid and Nelson were arrested today by UCLA police and are being held in lieu of $1 million bail each. Neither man could be reached for comment. They could be formally arraigned in a downtown criminal courtroom as early as Thursday.
Labels: stealing cadaver tissue, UCLA
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I wonder if the purchasers such as Johnson and Johnson were aware that they were buying marked up cadavers. Was it an under the table type deal or was this guy pulling one over on them.
- by Joshua Daly on Mar 8, 2007 at 5:37 PM | link
This is quiet the disturbing situation in which a human body which should be respected is treated as a used item for sale or trade. It is the right of each individual to donate his or her body to science and to be treated with respect for the cure of study of medicine. Its sick to see these two men who are willing to sell bodies are they are. I feel terrible for the family members of the bodies at which where sold and treated with such disrespect.
- by Adam on Mar 19, 2007 at 2:26 PM | link
I had the good fortune of attending a university where we were able to use real human cadavers for Anatomy & Physiology lab.It was the greatest learning course and overall academic experience I had in college. At every step of the way our professor reminded us that these cadavers where a generous gift from the patients and family members and it was truly our honor and privelege to recieve and work with them. It is a shame that in one of the greatest learning institutions in this country, that very simple message could not be enforced by those indivduals that represent the backbone of the program. They have essentially robbed donors and families of the dignity they thought came with donating ones body to science. When the case is settled these criminals will have cost UCLA its rights to even have a donor program and robbed students of the top-knotch med school experience they signed on for, all in the name of greed.
- by Jill Braver on Mar 25, 2007 at 5:30 PM | link