BODIES R US: Ethical Views on the Commercialization of the Dead in Medical Education and Research

Abstract

With the ongoing and expanding use of willed bodies in medical education and research, there has been a concomitant rise in the need for willed bodies and an increase in the means of supplying these bodies. A relatively recent development to enlarge this supply has been the growth of for‐ profit willed body companies (“body brokers”) in the United States. These companies advertise for donors, cover all cremation and other fees for the donor, distribute the bodies or body parts nationally and internationally, and charge their users for access to the body or body parts. In doing so, they generate substantial profits. This review examines the historical development of willed body programs, the legal and economic aspects of willed body programs, and then provides an ethical framework for the use of willed bodies. The ethical principles described include detailed informed consent from the donors, comprehensive and transparent information about the process from the body donation organizations, and societal input on the proper and legal handling of willed bodies. Based on the ethical principles outlined, it is recommended that there be no commercialization or commodification of willed bodies, and that programs that use willed bodies should not generate profit.

Changing Medical Education Scenario: A wakeup call for reforms in Anatomy Act

“…All stakeholders especially anatomist, have to make a conscious and a concerted effort towards popularising donation by awareness programmes, thanksgiving by students, maintaining transparency in entire process of body donation and taking help of media, thus enhancing the trust of community and their participation in process of medical teaching and learning for larger good of the society [13,14]. The ultimate aim should be gradually change the source of cadavers from unclaimed bodies to donated ones.…”

“…In the global context there is an ongoing debate on use of donated verses unclaimed bodies. Jones and Whitaker (2012) and Champney et al (2019) argue that use of unclaimed bodies should completely stop as the practice is not only unethical but also leads to commercialisation of dead [13,14]. Formulation of good practices for body donation by International Federation of Association of Anatomist (IFAA) [15] addresses the ethical issues and calls for transparency in the process of obtaining anatomic material for teaching and research.…”

Ethical Responses to the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Implications for the Ethos and Practice of Anatomy as a Health Science Discipline

“…Ethical queries arise when there is sharing of digital images, as in YouTube presentations, and when there is commercialization of human material. Both have previously been addressed in other contexts (Jones, 2016b; Champney et al, 2019).…”

“…This applies to the bequest process itself, where the decision to donate should be free from financial considerations, and also to the uses to which the remains are put following bequest…..” (FICEM, 2012) Although no actual remains will be used in an online environment, they could feature in videos obtained online. In discussing commercialization within a body donation context, Champney et al (2019) highlighted three themes: (1) the consent, understanding and information provided to the donor and family, (2) the treatment of the deceased by the organization handling the donation, and (3) the safety, ethical, and legal aspects applying in the society, in which the body is used. Care is required to ensure that commercial elements do not enter at any of these stages.…”

A Good Death – Can the Concept Be Applied to Anatomy?

“…Patients who request to donate their bodies to medical science after death often do so for reasons of altruism (Richardson and Hurwitz, 1995;McClea and Stringer, 2010;Cornwall et al, 2012;Cornwall, 2014;Champney, 2018;Gürses et al, 2018;Champney et al, 2019;Farsides and Smith, 2020), to provide a valuable contribution after death, and to further learning in the interest of progressing knowledge about their underlying disease (Carmack and DeGroot, 2018). In some cases, the religious and spiritual beliefs held by patients and their families forbid the donation of organs and bodies (Riederer, 2016).…”