Senator Tan Parker of Texas has announced plans to introduce legislation to ban the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research following an NBC News investigation that revealed a local medical program had studied hundreds of human specimens without permission from families. While Parker supports the use of bodies for medical advancements, he believes that consent from the deceased or their families should be required. The University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth had been leasing body parts from unclaimed bodies to other institutions and for-profit medical companies, some of whom had living family members still looking for their loved ones.
While it is legal in most parts of the country, the use of unclaimed bodies for research has been halted in some states and body donation programs due to changes in medical ethics. The Health Science Center in North Texas had justified using unclaimed bodies as a cost-saving measure for local governments, a training tool for physicians, and for medical research. However, NBC News found instances where relatives of the deceased could have been contacted before the bodies were declared unclaimed, but this was not done. The reporting prompted immediate changes, resulting in the suspension of the body donation program and firing of officials involved. Some companies and institutions who were working with the Health Science Center have also reevaluated their partnerships.
Family members of the deceased who were used in these research programs have expressed outrage and trauma over the discovery. Brenda Cloud, whose brother Victor Honey was dissected and leased to medical companies and the Army, was not made aware of this until NBC News informed her. While the Health Science Center has stopped acquiring unclaimed bodies, Cloud believes that more needs to be done to prevent others from experiencing what her family went through. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who helped arrange Honey’s burial, expressed sympathy for his family and the disrespect shown to his remains.
The revelation of the Health Science Center’s actions has drawn condemnation from several officials and medical experts, with some calling for federal intervention. The Rev. Al Sharpton referred to the issue as a civil rights matter, highlighting the violation of human dignity and family rights. Experts hope that Texas’ proposed legislation to ban the use of unclaimed bodies could set a new national standard and serve as a model for other states. Louisa Harvey, whose fiancé Michael Coleman’s body was sent to the Health Science Center despite her reporting him missing, welcomes the changes and promises of reforms in the wake of the investigation.
The emotional toll of the discovery on family members like Cloud and Harvey has been significant, with nightmares and lingering uncertainty about the remains of their loved ones. Despite apologies issued by the Health Science Center, family members have expressed skepticism and a desire for more meaningful communication from the institution. The actions of the University of North Texas Health Science Center have sparked outrage and prompted calls for stricter regulations and ethical considerations in the use of human remains for medical research.
