August M
A little-known industry operating largely out of public view is raising uncomfortable questions about death, consent and profit. In parts of the world, human remains have become commodities, traded in a system few families fully understand.
Investigations suggest the sums involved can be startling.
A growing business
The body brokering industry involves acquiring dead bodies and selling them for scientific, medical and commercial research. While many people voluntarily donate their bodies to science, critics say body brokers operate very differently.
According to reporting cited by LADBIBLE, at least 25 body brokering companies were identified in the United States in 2017. Together, they form a multimillion-pound sector.
Bodies are often dissected, with individual parts sold on to different buyers, sometimes without families knowing how remains will be used.
Families caught out
Farrah Fasold believed she was honouring her father’s wishes when she donated his body to medical science after he died of cancer in 2009. She later learned that his arm had been discovered in a barrel alongside other human remains.
In another case, Kim Erick said she recognised the body of her son, Chris, who died by suicide in 2012, displayed as “The Thinker” at an exhibition in Las Vegas.
Both cases have been cited as examples of how families can lose control over what happens after donation.
Legal grey areas
In the UK, the sale of body parts for profit is illegal under the Human Tissue Act. Donation for medical research is tightly regulated and cannot generate profit.
In the US, the situation is very different. While the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act bans the sale of human tissue, it allows companies to charge a “reasonable amount” for processing and handling.
Critics say that loophole has enabled an industry to flourish with minimal oversight.
A murky system
Researcher and author Jenny Kleeman, who investigated the trade for her book The Price of Life, described the sector as “murky” in comments reported by The Sun.
“In the UK, you can donate your body to medical research, but nobody’s allowed to donate your body for you,” she said, adding that no profit is made from the process.
“Whereas in America, you are allowed to make a profit out of providing these dead bodies [without permission].”
Kleeman found that one US company shipped body parts to more than 50 countries, including the UK.
Putting a price on remains
Reuters journalist Brian Grow reported that one body broker earned about £9.3 million over three years. Internal documents from Biological Resource Centre, cited by The Sun, suggested a whole body can sell for up to £10,000.
Listed prices included £2,360 for a torso, £450 for a liver and £370 for a head, with smaller amounts for limbs, arteries and even fingernails.
Who buys them
These firms describe themselves as “non-transplant tissue banks”. They sell bodies and parts to universities, medical schools, medical device companies and, in some cases, US military research programmes.
Critics argue the lack of regulation leaves families vulnerable and raises ethical questions that remain largely unresolved.
Sources: LADBIBLE, Reuters, The Sun
