Today we will bring you some excerpts from the second part in Reuters five-part series entitled “The Body Trade:  Cashing in on the Donated Dead”.  As we mentioned in our last article on the subject this is an explosive series that found, what they believe, to be a lot of problems with the business of using donated human bodies in an unregulated industry.  One of the problems discovered in the first part of the series was that, the article alleges, funeral homes sometimes receive referral fees to let for profit anatomy brokers know of potential people who may consider donating their bodies.

Part Two in this series centers around Cody Saunders,  his death on his 24th birthday, and what happened to his remains following the death.  Here are some excerpts from the article which you can find in its entirety here:

• “Too poor to bury or cremate him, they donated their son’s body to an organization called Restore Life, USA.”
• “A month later Restore Life sold Cody’s cervical spine for $300”
• “It’s unclear whether the organization vetted the buyer, who was a journalist from Reuters news agency investigating how easy it was to buy human body parts and whether those parts would be useful for medical research.”
• “Buying wine over the internet is arguably more tightly controlled generally requiring a minimum proof of age”
• “I haven’t seen anything this egregious before”, said Angela McArthur who directs the body donation program at the University of Minnesota Medical School.”

The article also talks about how in 2011 the President of Restore Life, James Byrd, addressed the Sullivan County, Tennessee commissioners who, the article says, were frustrated with the increasing cost to the taxpayers to cremate the indigent.  According to a recording of that meeting, Byrd suggested that Restore Life and body donation would be a solution in that Restore Life would cover expenses, including cremation.

Funeral Director Daily take:  Again, this is another exceptional article by Reuters about what has been going on.  While it is possible that Restore Life followed all of the laws, we just find it hard to believe that this type of for-profit activity can go on.  As you read this article, it becomes pretty obvious that families just don’t seem to know what could happen to their loved one’s body when donated to a for-profit entity.

I’ve been a funeral director for 37 years and every body donation I have helped a family with went to a medical school.  The medical schools took the bodies free of charge and also provided a proper cremation, free of charge, when use of the anatomical specimen was finished.  I think it is imperative that we as funeral directors let the general public know that their wishes of body donation is available through the non-profit sector also.