'I donated my mum's body to Alzheimer's research instead she was blown to pieces'
Her son said 'she was strapped in a chair, and a detonation took place underneath her'
One Arizona man thought he was donating his mother's body to science after her harrowing descent in Alzheimer's - only to discover he had been sent her cremated arm before the rest of her body was strapped to a chair and blown up.
Jim Stauffer cared for his mother Doris throughout her illness before she died at 74 in 2013. He decided to donate her brain to science hoping to contribute to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The family contacted Biological Resource Center, a local company that brokered the donation of human bodies for research. Within the hour, BRC dispatched a driver to collect Doris.
Jim signed a form authorizing medical research on his mother's body. Ten days later, Jim received his mother's cremated remains - but it turns out her ashes were made up of a singular arm sawn off from her body. The rest of her corpse had met a violent fate.
Doris' brain never was used for Alzheimer's research. Instead, her body became part of an Army experiment to measure damage caused by roadside bombs, reports the Irish Star.
Internal BRC and military records show that at least 20 other bodies were also used in the blast experiments without permission of the donors or their relatives, a violation of U.S. Army policy. Jim had also ticked a box specifically banning any kind of experiments on Doris. BRC sold donated bodies like Stauffer's for $5,893 each.
Jim said: "She was strapped in a chair, and a detonation took place underneath her to get an idea of what the human body goes through when a vehicle is hit by an IED. There was wording on this paperwork about performing tests that may involve explosions, and we said, 'No'."
Army officials involved in the project said they never received the consent forms that donors or their families had signed. Rather, the officials said they relied on assurances from BRC that families had agreed to let the bodies be used in such experiments.
BRC, which sold more than 20,000 parts from some 5,000 human bodies over a decade, is no longer in business. Its former owner, Stephen Gore, pleaded guilty to fraud in 2022. In a statement to Reuters, Gore said that he always tried to honor the wishes of donors and sent consent forms when researchers requested them. Jim said of Gore "He didn't care about the families, he didn't care about the people."
Jim learned of the fate of his mother's body from a Reuters reporter and "curled his lip in anger and clutched his wife Lisa's arm. "We did right," Lisa reassured him. "They just did not honor our wishes."
No federal law regulates body brokers like BRC, and no U.S. government agency monitors what happens to cadavers pledged for use in medical education and research.
"It is not illegal to sell a whole body or the parts of a body for research or education," said University of Iowa law professor Sheldon F. Kurtz, who helped modify the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which has been adopted by 46 states. Although the act was updated in 2006, Kurtz said, "the issue of whole bodies or body parts for research or education never came up during our discussions."
Since then, the body trade has become big business. Only one state, New York, keeps detailed records on the industry.
According to the most recent data available, companies that did business in New York shipped at least 100,000 body parts across the country from 2011 to 2014. Reuters obtained the data, which have never been made public, from the state's health department.
"I feel foolish," said Jim. "I'm not a trusting person, but, you have no idea this is going on." Military officials said they took BRC's word that permission had been given. Records show at least 20 more bodies were blown up without consent.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Chaplain who starred in Channel 4 show Geordie Hospital went 'above and beyond' caring for patients and staff before taking her own life, inquest hears
A coroner has paid tribute to a much-loved hospital chaplain who went 'above and beyond' in her role caring for patients and staff. Katie Watson, a former army captain, appeared on a Channel 4 documentary about life in a Newcastle hospital. The 50-year-old mother-of-two was found hanging in Jesmond Dene, Newcastle, last September, having suffered long-standing mental health issues which required both community and in-patient treatment. Coroner Karin Welsh, sitting in Newcastle, concluded that her death was suicide. The inquest heard how Ms Watson had a turbulent upbringing before she joined the military. Having served in Bosnia where she witnessed genocide, the inquest heard that she developed PTSD. She was ordained and became head of chaplaincy at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust in 2020, during the pandemic. Ms Watson had already endured several periods of low mood over the previous decades and had expressed suicidal ideation, for which she had received treatment, the inquest heard. In late 2023, she was referred to the local psychiatric crisis team due to her deteriorating mental state. By March 2024, amid concerns over going on to half-pay having been off work sick, Ms Watson was treated as a mental health in-patient. She felt that she was 'treading water' in her treatment on the ward and she was eventually discharged home a month before she took her own life. The coroner said her work as an Army captain led to her 'leading from the front' and in her role as chaplain she took on a role 'above and beyond' what could be expected. Ms Welsh said although some areas of the chaplain's treatment from mental health services could have been handled differently, the coroner did not find that failings led to her taking her own life and she recorded a conclusion of suicide. Ms Welsh paid tribute, saying that although she had never met the chaplain, she knew others who had been supported by her. 'I work closely with people who knew Katie and they always spoke very highly of her and the work she has done,' the coroner told family members. Ms Welsh said the chaplain's work with families who had suffered the loss of a child was 'exceptionally helpful'. The coroner said: 'I hope she's at peace now.' Earlier, when questioning Dr Michael Wright, medical director at the hospital trust, the coroner said: 'She seems to have taken her work very seriously and effectively seems to have given above and beyond what might be expected for that, to provide a compassionate role within the hospital.' Dr Wright replied: 'She was extremely committed not only to the care of her patients but also to the welfare of other staff and your description of her characterises exactly how she did her job.' After the hearing, her partner Dr Emily Watson said: 'Katie was a unique, inspiring, compassionate person who touched the lives of thousands of people. 'I am very grateful for the many hundreds of cards and messages I received when she died, and all the stories of how her ministry supported people at some of their darkest times. 'It is desperately sad that she wasn't able to see for herself how loved she was and I am sorry that mental health services in their current condition were not able to help her. 'She is deeply missed by us all.' Ms Watson featured in two series of the Geordie Hospital documentary, which followed the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's staff through a typical shift. Speaking about filming the documentary, Ms Watson said: 'Getting the chance to show people what hospital chaplaincy is actually about as opposed to what people think we do was great, and also a reminder to all of our team about how embedded and valued we are in the organisation.'
Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
NHS chief gives verdict on funding settlement outlined in spending review
New NHS England boss Sir Jim Mackey insists the NHS has done "really well" in the spending review - despite a lower rate of increase than under the Tories in 2023 The new boss of the NHS has said the health service has done 'really well' out of the spending review - despite getting a worse funding settlement than under the Tories. Sir Jim Mackey gave his first major speech at the annual NHS Confed Expo conference in Manchester moments before Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the health service will get a major funding squeeze. The Chancellor's spending review will mean a 3% annual budget rise, which is lower than the average 3.6% increases the NHS has received since its founding. It is also lower than the 3.3% rise seen in 2023 under the previous Conservative governments. But Sir Jim told health leaders: "The NHS has done really well relative to other parts of the public service but we all know it's never enough because of the scale of advancement, all the ambition, all things we want to do, the day-to-day cost pressures we're trying to get on top of, etc. "We're always going to be in a world where we want more money, but I think everyone's starting to accept and understand that we've got what the country can afford to give us. We really need to get better value for that money - it is broadly the equivalent of the GDP of Portugal, so it's a huge amount of money by any standards. "It's a huge amount - (the) Government has done us a really good turn compared to other parts of the public service. But it's not going to allow us all to just take our feet off the pedal and just run loose and do what we want to do in this next period, we have still got an awful lot of difficult things to do." Sir Jim succeeded previous chief executive Amanda Pritchard as the Government took direct control of NHS England, which had previously been operationally independent. Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Spending Review, setting out budgets for government departments. She said she has made "tough decisions" but is rejecting "austerity". Healthcare spending generally increases to keep pace with a growing and aging population. The UK spends less on healthcare than most other European countries. The 3% rise will add up to about £30 billion a year extra by the end of the parliament. It comes as the NHS is likely to have to find the cash for above-inflation pay rises for staff and a large chunk of a £1 billion-a-year rise in drug prices ministers have promised to the pharmaceutical industry. Sir Jim acknowledged it will be a struggle for the NHS to improve 'delayed discharges' where hospitals are full of frail but otherwise well people because there is no social care places for them. He added: "Social care in local authorities won't do brilliantly in the spending review… so we will be left with what we can do as much as we can within our gift." It comes as internal Government modelling suggests that without more NHS funding Sir Keir Starmer 's government will miss a key pledge to treat 92% of patients requiring routine care within 18 weeks. The NHS constitutional standard has not been met for a decade. Sally Gainsbury, of the Nuffield Trust think tank, told the Times that "an extra 2.8 per cent in real terms will not fully cover the new demands the health service can expect each year, let alone eliminate previous problems like the waiting list backlog".
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
Colombian senator Uribe shows signs of neurological improvement after shooting
BOGOTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe remains in a critical condition after being shot in Bogota on Saturday, but has shown signs of neurological improvement, the hospital treating him said in a statement on Wednesday. The 39-year-old, a potential presidential contender, is a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party. He was shot in the head as he was addressing a campaign event in a public park in the capital. "Despite the severity of his condition, there are signs of neurological improvement due to a decrease in cerebral edema. There is also evidence of a trend toward hemodynamic stabilization," the Santa Fe Foundation hospital said.
