Global Courant
The prosecution of a former Harvard Medical School employee for an alleged theft of human remains prompted experts to draft federal rules for a practice they say is largely unregulated and has grown in recent years with the rise of “body brokers.” for profit.
The school’s anatomical donation program, which employed a manager accused of illegally selling body parts to a nationwide network of buyers, resembles dozens of others around the country who are trying to “advance science and education,” said Thomas Champney, a bioethics expert at the University of Miami.
But unlike organ donation, which is closely regulated by the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act of 1968, there are few rules governing non-profit programs or companies that sell donated bodies to medical device manufacturers, law enforcement, and otherssaid Champney, who also helps run a body donation program for Florida’s State Anatomical Board.
Cedric Lodge leaves federal court in Boston on June 14, 2023.WBTS
“What I really want from the federal government is basic enforcement in handling bodies,” he said. “Right now, if I want to do a body donation program, I don’t have to go to someone to get certified.”
There should also be rules requiring a “revenue neutral” status and more transparency, he said. For example, if someone donates their body to a university, there is no federal policy requiring the school to disclose whether the body will be “dismembered” — or cut up and used in other ways.
“Some may be more easily publicizing it than others,” he said in an email. “There are no rules, so people do what feels right to them.”
It’s not clear if there were failures within Harvard’s program that allegedly allowed the former manager, Cedric Lodge, to steal and sell organs and remains from the school’s morgue.
Several others, including Lodge’s wife and an employee of an Arkansas morgue, were also charged in the alleged scheme.
In a statement last week, Harvard Medical School said it was “appalled” by the allegations and had appointed a panel of experts to review its policies and practices.
Asked Wednesday whether any of those policies may have contributed to Lodge’s alleged crimes, a spokesperson for the school said it would be premature to comment before the expert report is delivered later this year.
Lawyers for Lodge did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.
Michael Burg, a lawyer representing a group of 10 people who won a $58 million judgment against the owner of an Arizona business in 2019 about what Burg’s law firm described as a “blatant body-mediation scheme,” he questioned how Harvard’s oversight of Lodge could have apparently been so lax.
“What supervision did he have?” Burg said in an interview. “This is a leading university. There should have been supervision.”
Burg added rules for organ donation should be extended to organs.
“If you want to take cadavers and bodies, chop them up and sell them, you don’t need a permit. Anyone can do it,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”
“You can’t sell hearts, livers and kidneys,” he added.
Martine Dunnwald, president of the American Association of Anatomy, an industry group, said in a statement last week that the group condemns the “commercialization of human body donors and any action that violates donor ethics and trust”.
“To ensure the ethical, legal and responsible conduct of body donation programs across the country, the AAA calls on government and law enforcement, academic institutions and regulatory agencies for both justice and corporate reform to prevent the abuse and commodification of human body donors. ” she said.
A spokesperson did not respond to interview requests for more details.
Champney, a member of AAA, told the group has developed a set of guidelines for universities and other non-profit organizations that handle body donations, but he said those function as best practices and not mandated policies.
