On Body Bequeathal

On Body Bequeathal


The subject of donating one’s body for science and research is one of increasing contention. Kentucky residents are familiar with carrying a donor card on the back of their driver’s license, in which a person can easily sign his/her intent to be an organ donor. Many residents may believe that this contractual agreement ultimately ends with the donor at a university of Kentucky or Louisville medical lab, training future surgeons, therapists and other professionals. This is not true; the process does not end or even begin at a university. Instead the deceased may end up at tissue banks, which in turn process and ship select tissue and body parts to corporations that use the parts to manufacture medical and commercial products for net gains of millions of dollars.

Most people are not even aware of the existence of these non-profit organizations, tissue banks, which thrive on the blind charity of the public and the ambiguity of federal legislation for vast monetary gain. In fact it is common for one not to realize that organ donation is a near impossibility for the common person.



Yearly in the United States around one hundred thousand people wait for major organ transplants. Yearly, only about twenty thousand people qualify to donate major organs. Only two to three percent of deaths in the U.S. meet the donation criteria; the donor must be brain dead, defined as: the total and irreversible cessation of all brain activity and the brain stem. Modern technology can maintain the function of many organs for hours or days, even when the life maintaining centers of the brain are dead. Organ donation is life saving though unfortunately rare.

Tissue donation is the endowment of any non vital organ. This broad definition covers bone, bone marrow, blood vessels, corneas, skin, heart valves, and connective tissues. Any parts that fall under this category can be made into hundreds of pieces and used in over four hundred surgical procedures. Unlike organ donation, there is no critical shortage of tissue. Indeed there is enough tissue to be dealt with, that tissue banks, the organizations that handle and process the materials, have become billion dollar agencies. Here is introduced the grey area; it is expressly against the law to sell or make profit from a cadaver or any parts thereof.

The National Organ Transplant act of 1984 prohibits the buying or selling of organs. As confusing as it may sound, even though tissue donation is different from organ donation, tissues are still organs or part of organs. The loophole used to make a profit lies in the charge of shipping and handling. Tissue banks are not allowed to sell the materials, but they are allowed ‘reasonable’ charges on the handling, processing, and shipping of the tissue. Reasonable has yet to be defined, or tried in court. In this way profits are so high that top ranking officials at tissue banks earn six figure salaries, even though it’s a non-profit.

Organ procurement agencies, as well as Tissue banks, are set up as non profit organizations. The national organ transplant act was meant to maximize organ procurement, but sadly has not wholly succeeded. Instead, in the last twenty plus years, it has been the tissue trade that has seen significant advances in donations and profits. Tissue banks aggressively recruit donors. Methods include internet spam and junk mail. The most effective method though is the contractual agreements made with hospitals and funeral homes. Basically the agreement calls for the hospital to inform families of the prospect about the possibility for tissue donation, this usually occurs only hours after death. The catch is that profits are never discussed. The family is never told that the total accumulated tissue from their loved one alone could net around $ 20,000. A spokesperson for one of America’s most prominent tissue banks suggested that if people were told there might be profit made, then the amount of donations would fall, in turn causing the amount of organ donations to drop. Another tissue bank suggested that telling the families of prospective donors about possible gain would only add to the stress of the already grieving family.

The donation of a body to science or to medicine is done with the noblest of intentions. Tissue banks and other such organizations tip-toe their way around a families best interest, U.S. law, and social mores for the sake of earning money. There is nothing that could be done about it. Poor legislation is further hampered by government approval of this tissue trade cycle. It is easy to understand that a large percent of organ donations rely on donations to tissue banks (i.e. skin grafts). A part of your body may save someone’s life, while another part only serves to gratify someone else’s poor self-esteem, and that’s a low price to pay compared to saving a life.

What is not easy to understand is why there must be such a web of deceit and loopholes to bypass law and common morals. It only seems right that if big companies should make such big money, then the people powering the trade should receive compensation. True it is donations we are speaking of. Monetary compensations would undermine the entire concept at hand. Instead, ideas such as layout and “funeral” services for the departed by the banks themselves for the family could be looked at. Whatever the compensation be, something must be done. These are people who donate their bodies to improve someone else’s, but they are also people who leave behind families, sons, daughters, and widows.