The recent scandal at UCLA involving the sale of body parts from
donated cadavers is worrisome for similar programs throughout the
country.
“Donor programs across the nation are contingent on public
trust, and when public trust is violated, there is the potential
for (willed body) programs to be affected,” said Kristin
Liles, director of anatomical resources at the Michigan State
University College of Human Medicine.
Other universities agree that the recent events are affecting
overall public perception of the programs.
“It’s unfortunate that a few unscrupulous
individuals are casting a bad light on the rest of us,” said
David Conley, director of the willed body program at Washington
State University.
In spite of the UCLA scandal, many medical schools have not been
bombarded with concerned phone calls from living donors wondering
if their bodies will be treated the same after they die.
“I was a little surprised because we (usually) get calls
when something like this happens, but I haven’t had any calls
from donors expressing concern about this,” said Susan
Eastman, program coordinator for the willed body program at the
University of Arizona College of Medicine.
“Maybe they realize that this is an isolated
incident,” she said.
Even though there has been little outcry, directors of willed
body programs are preparing to deal with potential responses from
those on donor lists.
“I would answer individuals’ questions as they come
up,” Liles said.
Even in the past, when a similar scandal affected UC Irvine,
donors were not overly concerned, Conley said.
In 1999, Christopher Brown, the director of UCI’s Willed
Body Program, was found to have sold seven spinal cords to an
Arizona hospital for $5,000.
After Brown was fired, a new director was selected for the
program and regulations were rewritten.
And though many willed body programs allow donors to rescind
their decision to donate their bodies to science, few have done so
in light of the scandal.
“We have the normal number of people wanting to donate
their bodies,” said John Dolph, director of the willed body
program at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Even if the recent events may put many willed body programs
under “more intense scrutiny,” program directors have
nothing to worry about, Conley said.
“I know many directors (of willed body programs) around
the country and I know they run very tight ships,” he
said.
The willed body program at Stanford’s medical school has
been carefully monitored for years, Dolph said.
And even if universities decide to transport donated cadavers
elsewhere, many restrict the transport to other universities.
Michigan State University’s Willed Body Program receives
about 100 bodies a year for anatomical instruction for first-year
medical students and only allows other universities to use cadavers
for educational purposes, Liles said.
Anatomy courses from other universities must submit a copy of
the curriculum vitae for review in order for the university to
grant their requests, she said.
But the donors are affected by the scandal even more than the
programs that accept their donations, Liles said.
“The people who donate their bodies … are very good,
generous people,” Liles said. “It’s so sad when
their generosity has been taken advantage of.”