US Army blew up bodies that were donated for medical research

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Metro - UK

Harley Tamplin for Metr.co.uk
Friday 23 Dec 2016 8:00 pm

Human bodies that had been donated by their families for medical research were used in bomb simulations by the US army.

Biological Resource Centre (BRC), a company that claimed to donate bodies for research purposes, actually sold each body to the military for $5,893 (4,800) each.

. . .

The families of people whose bodies were donated only learned the truth following an investigation by Reuters.

Jim Stauffer donated his mother Doris body to BRC, hoping that it might help in the search for a cure to Alzheimers disease.



Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2016/12/23/us-army-blew-up-bodies-that-were-donated-for-medical-research-6342644/#ixzz4ThBwfpb7

[greymattermom]

1. Blast injury is complicated and poorly understood

maybe they were doing studies on blast injury.

[Throd 2.0]

2. Sounds like research to me.

[JenniferJuniper]

3. So...if you give them the body

can't they do any sort of testing they like?

[TygrBright]

4. When I'm done with it, sure, they can blow it up. But...

NOBODY better make a profit on it.

Really... when I have no further use for it, I'd be happy it could be used one more time, by someone else, for something that will help others in some way.

But... SELLING it?

That's purely disgusting. Fuck them.

adamantly,
Bright

[vkkv]

5. HOLY FUCK! The lack of respect for life and the dead will be our doom.

The dead were once life - should be treated with equal respect within each given parameter.

I hope this news hits all major media.

[FSogol]

8. You outrage is misplaced. Blowing up bodies and body parts allows researcher

to build better armor, blast protection, and safety devices. Science writer Mary Roach dedicates a whole chapter in her book, "Stiff" to the subject. That's where I plan on leaving my body to, since they have the hardest time getting corpses, and their research pays off in saving others quickly.

[vkkv]

20. I'd say your priorities are misplaced. YOU want to fight a better war. I want

to bring humanity back from the brink.

Blowing up someone's relatives (our relatives) so that the Pentagon can build a "safer" army is exactly the opposite of what we need.

I'm sad and sorry you don't grasp that.

[FSogol]

24. Military applications also have civilian applications, 1st responders, construction workers,

heck, even cell phone batteries can explode these days. If a body (donated for science) is used for scientific purposes, that's a good thing. Are you against organ donation too?

[Adrahil]

25. Many modern trauma care techniques....

Are a direct result of military doctors learning how to treat battle injuries.

Please tone down the self-righteousness.

[Lokilooney]

15. Do you think body farms are bad as well?

[vkkv]

21. Dehumanization in any form is not helping humanity.

[Kuhl]

28. I'll stick with science..

Thanks...

[skylucy]

6. I fail to see why this is shocking or a scandal...except for the fact that people who donated

the bodies of loved ones now have to deal with the images that this investigative report has made public. Aren't there many people injured in explosions...both in the military and in civilian accidents? I imagine that even using donated cadavers for research on Alzheimers might not be something that would look lovely to us if we saw what researchers do to the bodies. That doesn't make the research any less important.

[greymattermom]

7. They don't call it selling

rather they exchange it for a processing fee. My university used to have one of the largest willed body programs in the country. If you donate your body there, it likely goes to a medical school outside the state or for some other medical research use. These things are highly regulated, and blast injury is poorly understood. Maybe they were testing some new lightweight protective clothing for use in hot, desert climates.

[FSogol]

9. Exactly. Mary Roach has a chapter in her book, "Stiff" on blast research. n/t

[elmac]

10. When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep.

Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.

― Will Rogers, I think?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. Emo Phillips, is what I've heard. Doesn't sound like something Will Rogers would say. NT

[Lokilooney]

16. Yeah well when I die I'm going out like I came in

...Naked and crying!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. If my mortal coil is blown up to help understand how to fix soldiers ...

... I'd consider that better than just being food for worms.

[Bayard]

12. If you donate your body

Why should it be that expensive for research to use it? "Processing?" What's that supposed to mean?

I had a friend years ago that adopted some goats that the Army had been blowing up for the same reason.

[TexasBushwhacker]

14. My guess is that they are keeping it refrigerated

I imagine maintaining a morgue for donated bodies isn't cheap.

[canetoad]

17. Yep, I'd imagine

There are the expenses of picking up, storing, paperwork etc.

[csziggy]

27. To donate your body here it must be processed by a funeral home

The donor or the surviving relatives must make arrangements with a local funeral home, crematory or mortuary and pay for:

1. Preliminary embalming

2. Transportation to one of our receiving facilities located at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, or the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in Orlando.
http://anatbd.acb.med.ufl.edu/donor-packet/general-information/

[McCamy Taylor]

18. This is research. If they cut it up in anatomy lab, it still ends up in pieces.

[Locut0s]

19. While I have no personal qualms about this, what they did was wrong...

If you read the article the son in the highlighted case donated his mother's body and SPECIFICALLY ticked a box saying her body could not be used for military or non medical purposes. Which is exactly what they did, which is horribly insensitive when you think about the fact that you are dealing with the bodies of loved ones, people donate their bodies hoping that some good can come of it after their death, or in this case the body of a loved one.

Personally speaking just for myself I really don't give a shit what happens to my body after I die. Shoot it out of a cannon for all I care, lol. I'm gone at that point. It would be nice to donate my body to scientific research.

[EarthFirst]

26. This is where this situation fails in my mind as well...

My first question was if there was a military objection/opt-out.

It seems as though there was in this instance.

If someone is morally objected, I feel their wishes ought to be respected.

If the military is able to have the purchasing power behind them that it has, there aren't shortages of medical cadavers, so this objection should not even be an issue.

[Locrian]

22. pretty clear he has a reason to be upset

He signed a form authorising medical research, but also ticked a box prohibiting military or non-medical experiments.

Pretty clear he has a reason to be upset.


Also - military experiments(?): likely not used for research for "helping soldiers" with respect to injuries, medical treatment etc.
Much more likely for bomb effectiveness and killing potential.

[oberliner]

23. This story is at least three years old

I'm not sure why this British tabloid is running with it now.

Owner of Biological Resource Center in Arizona sentenced to probation, deferred jail time

PHOENIX - The owner of an Arizona company that arranges the donation of bodies for medicine and research was sentenced to probation and later jail time for his role in mishandling the donations.

Prosecutors say Stephen Gore faces four years of probation and a deferred sentence of 12 months in jail for illegal enterprise, according to the Maricopa County Superior Court.

According to info from inside the courtroom, the jail sentence that was deferred will be revisited next year.

The 48-year-old Gore pleaded guilty in October to a charge of illegally conducting an enterprise after his company, Biological Resource Center of Arizona, was the subject of a two-year investigation.

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/owner-of-biological-resource-center-in-arizona-facing-prison