Do you know what happens to bodies donated to science?

[Gail]

Here is one article that describes the grisly business of body parts:

Special report- Body Brokers

[Gregory Matthews]

As stated in the article, it is critical to understand that the transplant industry is totally different and regulated by the Federal government.

At one time I had been formally trained and certified to talk to families about donation for transplants.  But, I got out of that  when I did not want to ask family members some of the questions that under the Federal regulations I was required to ask.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

We generally have the same here in the U.S.  In many (all ? ?) States one can  put on their drivers license that they wish to be a donor  However, it is still required to determine after death if they are eligible to be a donor.  IOW, the fact is that some people do not meet the criteria to become a donor.  That must be determined by and examination of the clinical records available.  As a hospital, those records were available to us.  A clinician would examine them and decide on the basis of what we found there whether or not the person might be  eligible.  But, that did not end it.  The next step was for someone like me to discuss this with a family member, such as the  wife of the deceased person.  This discussion included some life style issues that could not be obtained from our clinical records.  In the beginning, I was comfortable doing this.  But, with the advancement of clinical science my requirements to discuss with the family member increased.  I became uncomfortable in discussing these increased subjects and I got out of  doing so.  There was a requirement for be to be periodically recertified.  I stopped doing so and when asked to talk to a family member I simply stated that I was not currently certified and that ended the discussion as far as I was concerned.