Many of you in the death care industry were probably sideswiped yesterday when  Reuters first part in its investigative series on what it terms “The Body Trade” was released.  This expose – which Reuters tell us will be a five-part series – will tell of the underworld nature of what happens, in some instances, with bodies whose families believe are being “donated” to science.

Reuters header on Part 1 reads, “When Americans leave their bodies to science, they are also donating to commerce:  Cadavers and body parts, especially those of the poor, are sold in a thriving and largely unregulated market.  Grisly abuses abound.”  You can read the entire Part One article here.

In essence, the first in the series talks about the for-profit motive of some in the anatomical bequest industry.  According to the article, “the industry’s business model hinges on access to a large supply of free bodies, which often come from the poor”.  Again, according to the article, Reuters believes that there are some for-profit bequest programs whose offer of a free cremation appeals to many low income families.

What is shocking to me in this report is that the Reuters article points to a fact that some of this shady industry has become intertwined with the American funeral industry.  Reuters claims to be able to identify 62 funeral operators that have struck business arrangements with body brokers.  The claim is that funeral homes provide body brokers to families and then the funeral home receives more in referral fees from the body brokers than they would profit on funeral and/or cremation services.

There is also one claim by Reuters of funeral home owners who have become stockholders in a body broker business.  The article cites an example where the non-profit bequest company then paid these stockholders $412,000 in 2015 alone.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This is a must read for anybody in the death care industry.  It is too long for me to explain the entire article in 600 words or less for this column, but let me share that some of the accusations are shocking.  We have learned that the series will be published in five parts between October 24 – November 2, a time period that encompasses the National Funeral Directors Convention in Boston.

The article brings back some memories for me.  About seven of eight years ago I was approached at our funeral home by a family with a member on hospice care.  They explained to me that they had made arrangements for body donation with a firm out of state and I was to call the firm for instructions.  When I called the firm they instructed me to pack the unembalmed body in dry ice, put in an air tray and forward to them and they would pay me.  I told them that to my knowledge bodies going out of Minnesota by private carrier needed to be embalmed.  They insisted the body did not — so I called the Minnesota Department of Health.  They explained to me that there were for-profit bequest programs and this sounded like one of them.  They advised that I should stay away if possible.

I relayed this information to the family and they were able, prior to the time of death, to have their loved one, at the time of death,  donated to one of the universities with a medical school in our area — something we help line up quite often.  The family ended up being much happier with this arrangement – an arrangement that they did not know was available to them.

My point is clear — some funeral homes may be unaware of this type of operations going on.  My guess is that this series by Reuters will bring much more awareness to the situation.

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