This article is part of Dealing the Dead, a series exploring the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.
Texas lawmakers will ban unclaimed bodies from being used for research in response to an NBC News investigation that found a local medical program obtained and studied hundreds of human specimens without family members’ permission. Then he clarified.
Republican U.S. Sen. Tan Parker, whose district includes parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties, introduced a bill in the January session that would ban the use of human remains unless the person or survivors have given their full consent. Then he said.
Parker has previously sought to crack down on the largely unregulated body brokering industry. Still, he told NBC News that the Fort Worth-based University of North Texas Health Science Center was making money by dissecting unclaimed bodies and leasing the parts to commercial medical companies and other institutions. He said he had no idea about it until he saw the study. , including the Army. Some of the people whose bodies were used in this way had families searching for their bodies.
“I was outraged and completely disgusted to see what was happening,” said Parker, who said he fully supports the use of human remains for medical advances, but added: , said it would only be allowed by the deceased or his family. “Human life is sacred and must always be protected. That is a core principle for me.”
Texas Rep. Tan Parker said he was angry that unclaimed bodies were being used for medical training. Texas Senate Media Service
The Health Sciences Center had no comment on Parker’s legislative plans. University spokesperson Andy North said in a statement Thursday that the center “has not met the standards of respect, consideration and professionalism that we demand.”
Half a century ago, U.S. medical schools routinely used unclaimed bodies for research and training, and it’s still legal in most parts of the country, including Texas. But some states and many body donation programs have discontinued the practice, reflecting changing medical ethics that require doctors and scientists to treat corpses with the same respect they would treat living patients.
North Texas officials say the deal saves local governments money on burials and cremations, and provides training and support for doctors, as well as for unclaimed bodies (those with no family members who can afford funeral arrangements, or It justified sending bodies (whose families cannot be contacted) to the Health Sciences Center. Lifesaving research. But NBC News revealed that death investigators and health science centers in Dallas and Tarrant counties repeatedly failed to contact available relatives before declaring the bodies unclaimed.
The report sparked immediate change, sparking public outrage and shocking reactions from federal, state, and local officials. The Health Sciences Center announced it would suspend its body donation program, fire the staff leading it and stop accepting unclaimed bodies. Some medical device and research companies, and even the Army, said they are reconsidering their arrangements with the center and will review their internal policies to ensure they do not use unclaimed bodies in the future. .
The University of North Texas Health Science Center has discontinued its body donation program and fired the staff member who led it. NBC News’ Shelby Tauber
Tarrant County Commissioners Court Commissioner Alisa Simmons said she plans to push the board to adopt new policies to ensure ethical and respectful treatment of unclaimed dead. Dallas County officials said they will no longer provide unclaimed bodies for research unless survivors request it.
For some families, these appointments help ease the pain, but they say they are still traumatized by what happened to their deceased relatives.
“It’s completely disrespectful and it’s upsetting,” said Brenda Cloud, Victor Honey’s sister.
After his death in 2022, Honey, a 58-year-old mentally ill and homeless Army veteran, was autopsied and handed over to two medical companies and the Army. His family didn’t know until NBC News broke the news this spring. In June, they buried Honey’s cremated remains along with thousands of other service members at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
Brenda Cloud remains angry at the way her brother’s body was handled. Maddie McGarvey of NBC News
Cloud said she was relieved to learn that the Health Sciences Center had stopped picking up unclaimed bodies, but she hopes more can be done to prevent others from going through what her family endured. Ta.
“You can see the laws change as people become more aware of what’s going on,” Cloud said. “Yet, there is nothing in the law that solves what happened.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which helped arrange Honey’s burial in June, expressed sympathy for what happened to Honey.
“We are deeply saddened to hear about him and his family,” VA spokesman Terrence Hayes said in a statement. “Mr. Honey, like all veterans who have served our country with courage and honor, deserved a dignified burial when he passed away.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC’s “Politics Nation,” has previously criticized Mississippi authorities for not notifying families before declaring bodies unclaimed, and the Center for Health Sciences’ He said the activity was a “civil rights issue” and merited government intervention.
“What you are doing is taking away their families, their loved ones, their human dignity and their right to make decisions for their loved ones,” Sharpton said in an interview. .
Some officials and medical experts reacted to the NBC News findings and called for changes from the federal government. Thomas Champney, a professor of anatomy at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine who studies the ethical use of the human body, said he hopes Congress will take action.
“This shouldn’t happen anywhere in the United States,” Champney said.
Eli Shoop, a bioethicist at the University of Texas at Arlington, has tried unsuccessfully for years to dissuade Tarrant County officials from providing unclaimed bodies to the University of North Texas Health Science Center, but the state said the opportunity to set new national standards has arrived.
“This is not only a good step forward for the state of Texas, but it could be a model for other medical schools, other counties, other states,” Shupe said of ending the use of unclaimed bodies. He spoke, referring to Mr. Parker’s promise.
Louisa Harvey, whose fiancé Michael Coleman, 43, was sent to the Health Sciences Center despite reporting her missing and searching for her, has seen a series of changes and promises of reform. He said he was happy.
“There will be no justice for Michael or the families already affected, but it would be a good thing if we can prevent the same thing from happening to others,” Harvey said.
Michael Coleman and his fiance Louisa Harvey. Provided by: Louisa Harvey
Ms Harvey said she wanted more from the Health Sciences Center. Center officials apologized for the program’s failure in a statement posted on its website, but had not spoken to Coleman or Honey’s loved ones.
“That seems like something you would say just because you got caught,” Harvey said of the center’s statement.
After NBC News reported Harvey’s comments, Health Sciences Center spokeswoman North said the agency “has been working to reach out to the family to express our sincere apologies.”
Meanwhile, Harvey said he has been having nightmares for months and is still unsure whether the box on his nightstand actually contains Coleman’s remains.
“This is tough,” she said, “I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”