Doctoring the Truth
Welcome to Doctoring the Truth, a podcast where two dedicated audiologists dissect the world of healthcare gone rogue. Explore jaw-dropping stories of medical malfeasance, nefariousness, and shocking breaches of trust. The episodes provide deep dives that latch onto your curiosity and conscience. It's a podcast for truth-seekers craving true crime, clinical insights, and a dash of humor.
Doctoring the Truth
Ep 13-Donated to Science, Sold for Profit: America's Body Trade
Beneath the noble veneer of "donating your body to science" lies a disturbing truth—an entirely unregulated industry where human remains are bought, sold, and shipped like commodities. This episode pulls back the curtain on America's body broker industry, revealing how donated bodies often end up dismembered, sold for profit, and used in ways donors never imagined or consented to.
From historical grave robbers like Burke and Hare who murdered for medical specimens, to modern-day scandals at prestigious institutions like Harvard Medical School, we trace the evolution of this shadowy trade. You'll discover why it's currently more regulated to sell a hot dog on a street corner than to traffic in human remains, and how a single donated body can generate up to $100,000 when sold piece by piece.
We share shocking case studies: a Colorado funeral home that secretly sold bodies while returning fake ashes to grieving families; a respected ENT doctor shipping human heads via commercial carriers; and an organized network that treats human remains like fast-food inventory. Most disturbingly, we reveal how these operations are largely legal due to massive regulatory gaps that have persisted for decades.
The consequences are profound—not just for the dignity of the deceased, but for grieving families who discover their loved ones' remains were treated as merchandise instead of contributing to medical advancement. As one industry insider admitted, "If you can print a shipping label, you can move a human head."
Ready to protect yourself and your loved ones? Listen to discover what reforms experts recommend and the critical questions to ask if you're considering body donation. Share this episode to help expose a system that desperately needs transparency and accountability.
Sources for today’s episode include:
Reuters Investigates: In the U.S. market for human bodies, anyone can sell the donated dead
Denver7 investigates: Selling body parts: Colorado's secret black market industry
Body Brokers, 2006. Ann Cheney
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amanda jona, hey yo how you doing. I'm great. Are you better than I am? Can you tell I'm better than last week? I can tell that you are much better than last week I am much better.
Speaker 2:But you know we've gone from virus cold flu season to I know they kind of just bled into each other flu season to. I know they kind of just bled into each other. They do, so there's a lot of snuffling happening. I was driving myself nuts, which you know when you're driving yourself nuts that perhaps it's really even that much more exponentially annoying to the listeners. Uh, with my sniffling. So I'm gonna try not to do that.
Speaker 1:I will say you did a great job editing out my sniffles.
Speaker 2:Last time I was, I like knew where there would be a sniffle and and I was like, oh shit, it's gone she's like bloop I've learned, like the, the the speech envelope or the the acoustic envelope of a sniffle, and I actually I actually screenshotted it, dear listeners, and sent it to her and I was like look, how cute your sniff, yeah I should actually post that and it's a cute little yeah, uh, well, we all, we all geek out over different things, right?
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Speaker 1:Cozy earthcom with promo code stay suspicious did you start finger spelling when you did that?
Speaker 2:I might not be able to help myself. I liked it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at some point we'll do a, we'll do a live and then people, the listeners, will be able to see, uh, some of the uh ad hoc stuff that goes on here, this will be in the past when you hear this episode listeners, but I did just post on instagram story on doctoring the truth podcast on instagram um a picture of my little pod set up here.
Speaker 2:So it says on mondays we record so oh, I kind of want to see that too, because I haven't I haven't cracked an invite over there to your new little house.
Speaker 1:Well, you're welcome. Whenever you just have one of those standing invitations, you don't need a formal. I'm just going to have to invite myself.
Speaker 2:You just drive on over A little knock-knock-a-roo.
Speaker 1:Raven will let me know you're here, yes you will. I have very much been looking forward to this episode Black Market Bodies. I have very much been looking forward to this episode Black market bodies. Are you kidding?
Speaker 2:me. Yes, Well, thank you. Like I said I, after the last few episodes, I kind of wanted to do something lighthearted, but it's not lighthearted, but it's just different. So here we go Today on Doctoring the Truth. We'll go inside the chilling world of black market body brokers, where the line between I like that.
Speaker 2:I have a bit of a cold still, so I can kind of get into that, really like grainy dirty, like black market body broker. Yes, thank you. Thank you creepy, where the line between donation and exploitation disappears, okay, but seriously there's a trigger warning for those who need it. This episode covers some particularly gruesome descriptions of human remains. I try not to go into too much detail, but if this is a topic you find disturbing, I put put in my notes. You may want to listen to reruns. Obviously, you want to catch up on our podcast. This is episode lucky 13. So if you haven't listened to the first 12, you're missing out. Go back. Maybe you don't want to hear about body parts. However, if you have listened, I would suggest going over to our friends. Uh, I wish they were friends of the podcast. Maybe someday they will be. But our Morbid Girls, who today started their Zodiac Killer series. I can't believe they haven't done it already. So, yeah, go listen to Morbid, all right. So sources for today's episode include Reuters Investigates, cbs, denver 7 Denver seven investigates in a book called body brokers in 2006 by Ann Chaney. Remaining sources will be cited in our show notes.
Speaker 2:Listeners, it's harder to sell hot dogs on a street corner than it is to sell a human body in America. That's not an exaggeration, that's a quote from someone who's actually done it Not sell a hot dog, but sold a body. So to sell a hot dog, you need a permit, a license and a food safety plan, but to sell human remains, eh, no need. You'd think donating your body to science would be a noble act that helps medical students learn or researchers make life-saving discoveries. But what if I told you, behind closed doors, those bodies, like your grandmother's, your neighbor's and even yours one day, are being carved up, sold off and shipped across the country, often with no oversight at all no license, no inspections, no oversight. Thousands of Americans donate their bodies to science every year, hoping to contribute to medical breakthroughs. But many of those bodies are ending up dismembered, boxed and shipped to labs, training centers and even military bases. Some are sold for profit and some are desecrated, some disappear.
Speaker 2:The idea of donating your body after death can be comforting. It feels like a way to give back to help future doctors learn and scientists study diseases. Most people assume their remains will go to a medical school or research institution, but there's a whole other side to this world, a murky, under-regulated network of businesses that harvest, dismember and sell body parts for profit. According to a Reuters Investigates report, dozens of these companies are in the United States. They call themselves non-transplant tissue banks. They call themselves non-transplant tissue banks, and while organ transplants are tightly controlled by federal law, whole body donations are practically unregulated. Many of these operations are legal technically, but the ethics? That's where things fall apart.
Speaker 2:This episode explores a largely hidden and unregulated world of underground body brokers, tracing the practice from its origins in 19th century grave robbing to the modern-day multi-billion dollar industry of human body part commodification. Let's examine this dark but thriving marketplace further. The trade in human bodies has existed in the shadows for centuries. While the use of cadavers in medical education and research has been essential to scientific progress, the line between ethical use and exploitation is often perilously thin In the modern world. With advances in transportation, preservation and digital commerce, the sale of human remains has evolved into a complex industry involving funeral homes, tissue banks, educational institutions and underground brokers. Now, unlike organ donation, which is tightly regulated by the federal government, whole body donation for research exists in a kind of legal gray zone. Anyone can start a body donation business, no license required, no federal inspection and in some states like Colorado, not even a funeral director's license is needed to broker human remains of non-transplant tissue banks. So let's look at the historical background.
Speaker 2:In the early 19th century, edinburgh was a city of dualities. It was a hub of enlightenment, thinking home to some of the finest minds in medicine, science and philosophy, but it was also a city of shadows, where poverty and disease thrived. Medical schools in Edinburgh were among the best in the world, but they faced a peculiar problem. They needed bodies, the world. But they faced a peculiar problem they needed bodies. Cadavers were essential for teaching anatomy and the law. It only allowed the use of executed criminals, with only a few executions a year. Supply did not meet demand. That gap gave rise to a new profession the resurrectionists body snatchers, who dug up fresh graves by night and delivered cadavers to medical schools by morning.
Speaker 2:Enter William Burke and William Hare, two Irish immigrants living in Edinburgh's Westport, scraping by in the working-class underbelly of the city. Their journey into the macabre began not in a graveyard but in a boarding house. A fellow lodger died of natural causes and Hare saw an opportunity. With Burke's help, he sold the body to Dr Robert Knox, a prominent anatomist at Edinburgh Medical School, the payment Over seven pounds several months' wages at the time. That transaction sparked an idea why wait for people to die naturally when you could speed up the process?
Speaker 2:Between 1827 and 1828, burke and Hare killed at least 16 people. Their method was chillingly efficient. They suffocated their victims without leaving visible marks. This became known as quote burking end quote. Victims were often vulnerable the elderly, the ill, sex workers and alcoholics, people whose disappearances would raise little alarm. They lured the victims with alcohol or shelter, killed them and delivered the bodies to Dr Knox. Knox, it seemed, asked few questions. The murders went undetected for months. Some suspected, but few dared to speak. After all, who could imagine murder for science? It all unraveled when they killed a woman named Margaret Dougherty. Neighbors grew suspicious and police were called. When the body was discovered, the game was up. Hair turned informant in exchange for immunity and burke stood trial. On christmas eve, 1828, burke was found guilty and sentenced to death. Yeah, ironically, his body was dissected and displayed. A final, grim, poetic twist. Listen, it always pays to be the first one to spill to get that, to get that sweet, sweet deal. Get that deal, buddy. I mean, that's so unfair.
Speaker 1:One of them lived and the other one was yeah I think they both should have been donated to science right, and then dr knox.
Speaker 2:He faced no charges, of course well, of course not his reputation suffered, but legally he walked free.
Speaker 2:This case horrified the public. In response, the british parliament passed the anatomy act of 1832. It allowed medical schools to use unclaimed bodies from workhouses and hospitals a legal, if troubling, source. But the birkenhead case shaped the ethics of body donation. It forced society to confront the balance between scientific progress and human dignity. In the Americas, in the United States, the demand for cadavers surged through, especially through the Civil War era, with battlefield surgeons requiring corpses for surgical training. By the late 1800s, anatomical legislation allowed medical schools to acquire unclaimed bodies, particularly from prisons and poorhouses. Notice a theme here.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:The marginalized, the destitute. So these policies institutionalized class-based exploitation, making the indigent disproportionately subject to dissection. As scientific research and medical training became more formalized in the 20th century, the need for cadavers increased. This demand, coupled with inconsistent regulation, led to the rise of commercial bodybrokers. These intermediaries began acquiring donations under vague terms, slicing corpses into sellable parts and distributing them to buyers ranging from universities to weapons manufacturers. Today, body brokers often present themselves as legitimate medical donation programs. Families are offered free cremation in exchange for donating their loved one's body to science. However, many are unaware that the body may be dissected and sold piece by piece to multiple buyers. Be dissected and sold piece by piece to multiple buyers. Common destinations could include medical training programs like orthopedic or dental schools, surgical device manufacturers, crash test facilities and military testing programs. Oh my gosh. So let's break this down. You or a loved one die, your body's donated to science, perhaps to a local facility that promises to be used for noble medical research, but you don't know that the science might be plastic surgery in Las Vegas or crash test simulations or, in some cases, nothing medical at all. Quote it's like the wild west. There are no rules. End quote, says one former worker in the body trade. Quote you get the right paperwork and can ship a torso anywhere. End quote.
Speaker 2:One Reuters investigation found a warehouse in Detroit with rotting human remains stored in moldy coolers. In Arizona, a raid uncovered a cooler filled with male genitalia, a bucket of heads and a Frankenstein-like torso sewn together from multiple donors. These aren't urban legends. These are court-documented facts. This is a business and, like any business, it's driven by profit.
Speaker 2:Bodies are dismembered, cut apart and sold piece by piece. A head might go for $500, a torso $2,000. A whole body can be worth $10,000 or more when divided. Brokers charge clients handling fees that resemble market prices. So a whole torso $3,000 to $5,000, head $600 to $900, limbs $300 to $1,200 each and spine $1,500. These prices reflect not only the cost of processing and shipping, but also the growing demand for specialized anatomical specimens. In some cases a single body can be worth over $100,000 when dissected and sold in parts. And these parts aren't just sold once. They can be leased and resold multiple times, crossing state and even international borders, multiple times crossing state and even international borders. The I see you shaking your head, I don't know, gasping for air, if you, if you, want to say something?
Speaker 1:I'm trying not to interrupt, but yeah, there's a lot of jaw dropping going on over here. It's like what?
Speaker 2:me too. I couldn't believe this stuff. So these brokers often advertise themselves as helping families in need. This stuff. So these brokers often advertise themselves as helping families in need, offering free cremation in exchange for a donation. But that cremation might not include all the original body parts. Some families get got back ashes, but when investigators tested them, they found they weren't even. They weren't even human remains.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, that's what I was kind of wondering and I was gonna talk about this at the end, but I was like, okay, so maybe like a couple body parts were donated and missing it, like you would never know if you didn't get it all back.
Speaker 2:But now you're not even getting back human remains I could just burn my recycling and put that in and earn. I mean these poor families yeah, no idea so now it's time for a chart. No, chart note. We're a couple of cats caterwalling.
Speaker 1:I know I was going to say we're definitely not harmonizing at all, just like a bunch of alley cats out here, right?
Speaker 2:chart note. I kind of like that aesthetic couple of alley cats here. Listen, this alley cat is going to talk to you about a chart note where we learn something about what's happening in medicine and health care potential new treatment for parkinson's disease, which is called which is um acronymized pd. Is that a word? I don't know. Anyway, my uncle had parkinson's disease, my dad's older brother, and um, it's just, it's just so awful my grandpa also had parkinson's, it is horrible, didn't he?
Speaker 2:it is horrible. It's apparently the second most common neurological disease worldwide, um, and it's characterized by the progressive loss of neurons that produce dopamine. And although current treatments like levodopa can alleviate symptoms in the early stages, their efficacy declines and they're often accompanied by side effects like dyskinesia, which is that uncontrolled muscle movement. So cell-based therapies that replenish dopamine neurons in the brain are showing early promise as a potentially more effective treatment with fewer adverse effects. The two new studies were published online in April 16. In May, in a phase two out of three trial conducted in Japan, seven patients with PD underwent bilateral striatial transplantation of dopaminergic precursor cells derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells with immunosuppression and were monitored for 24 months. The trial showed that the IPS cell derived dopaminergic neurons are safe and produce dopamine in the brain and ameliorate neurological symptoms. I think it's a significant first step, said study investigator Jun Takahashi MD, phd Director and Professor of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application in Kyoto, japan. No serious adverse events were reported during the study period and the transplanted cells produced dopamine without forming tumors, which is a serious risk associated with stem cell therapy. Among the six patients evaluated for efficacy, five showed improvement in the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, part 3, while on medication and when they stopped taking it, four continued to show improvement. The average changes of all six patients were 20.4% and 35.7% for the off and on scores respectively. Takahashi noted that cell transplantation can be applied when medication for PD becomes less effective or causes side effects. In this sense, cell transplantation therapy is adjunctive. In the future, the best scenario is that cell transplantation alone can replace lost dopaminergic neurons and cure the patient. Alone can replace lost dopaminergic neurons and cure the patient, takahashi said.
Speaker 2:In a separate phase one clinical trial, also published in Nature, an off-the-shelf dopaminergic progenitor cell project derived from human embryonotic stem cells was grafted bilaterally into the putamen. The putamen is a word from Latin meaning nutshell, and it's the subcortical nucleus with a rounded structure inside the basal ganglia, which is like deep inside the limbic system of the brain. So they did this in 12 patients with Parkinson's disease from the United States and Canada. Five of these patients received a low dose and seven received a high dose coupled with a year of immunosuppression. So for those listeners who don't know, typically this involves steroids or other such medication that suppress the immune system to keep the body from attacking itself, but then it also makes you more vulnerable to attack from other you know community-borne illnesses or viruses, et cetera. So I mean there's a risk involved. But the trial achieved its primary objectives of safety and tolerability up to 18 months after transplant with no adverse events related to the stem cell product. The transplanted cells survived, became engrafted and produced dopamine, with no evidence of graft-induced dyskinesias and again, dyskinesia is involuntary muscle movement. The secondary and exploratory clinical outcomes showed improvement or stability, including scores that improved by an average of 23 points in the high-dose cohort, reflecting improved motor function without Parkinson's disease medication.
Speaker 2:The author of Nature News and Views said these results are encouraging because they show the use of allogeneic transplants so stem cell transplants for the treatment of PD, and that it's likely to be safe. To confirm their effectiveness, however, more research is needed. These two trials were small Open label studies in which both the investigators and the participants were aware of who received what treatment is necessary, wrote Hideyuki Okano, md, phd, with the Kayo University Regenerative Medicine Research Center in Kawasaki, japan. Because of this, there's a possibility that the results in efficacy were influenced by the placebo effect or investigator bias. Nevertheless, the fact that both independent trials proved to be safe and hinted at possible efficacy, is an important step towards the establishment of this cell therapy for Parkinson's disease in wider society. The next stages of clinical trials, phases two and three, are awaited to fully assess the efficacy of these interventions. Okano concluded Commenting on this research.
Speaker 2:Michael Okun, md, medical Advisor for Parkinson's Foundation and Director of the Normal Fixal Institute for Neurological Diseases, university of Florida Health, gainesville, go Gators, noted that over the past two decades, stem cells have generated tremendous interest, excitement and hope for Parkinson's disease. These two most recent studies are small but promising. He cautioned that it's tough to judge short and long-term outcomes because each of the two studies include so few subjects. The safety of each approach was reassuring and one very important finding was the absence of runaway dyskinesia, which was a showstopper for previous Parkinson's stem cell trials, he said. Okun also said it's important for patients and families to be wary to what has been referred to as stem cell tourism.
Speaker 2:Okay, so here I am trying to find an uplifting study that says oh, we're on the verge of possibly an effective treatment for something that's so terrible, and here we are back to nefariousness. So I don't know if this, you know maybe is an idea for a future episode, but the published studies are legitimate. He told Medscape Medical News. But there are thousands of clinics around the world offering a stem cell cure for cash deal. We're aware of serious complications resulting from these. We recommend never paying for an unproven experimental treatment. We also recommend that before you say yes to anyone approaching you with cash for a stem cell treatment, you request copies of two critical documents the Institutional Review Board approval to conduct research on you as a human subject and also the informed consent form. Bring the documents to your doctor and healthcare team for discussion and shared decision-making, said Okun.
Speaker 2:Because, why wouldn't someone?
Speaker 1:just try to take advantage of these people, are you?
Speaker 2:kidding me. I'm like uplifted about this parkinson's disease and here we are, we're back to but watch out for the scammers medical malfeasance.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, so that was an unintentional another rabbit hole that will probably go down in the future, which means this podcast is unfortunately never going to run out of ideas, because there's always something that's no good trafficking and the shadow market. The shortage of organs for transplant is a global crisis. While the World Health Organization, otherwise known as WHO, estimates that 10% of all organ transplants are performed illegally, the real number may be higher. Desperate patients travel abroad for illicit surgeries and impoverished donors are coerced or misled into giving up organs, and impoverished donors are coerced or misled into giving up organs. Transplant tourism brokers in South Asia, eastern Europe and parts of Africa coordinate between poor donors, private hospitals and wealthy patients. These brokers often forge medical documents, bribe hospital staff, arrange cross-border travel and use shell companies to launder their profits. Donors often receive little aftercare and suffer long-term health effects, including renal failure, infection and psychological trauma. Recipients are at risk for rejection and infection due to unsanitary procedures.
Speaker 2:The reach of American body brokers isn't confined to domestic borders either. Since 2008, body parts from American donors have been exported to at least 45 countries. In nations where cultural or religious customs limit the use of their own dead for medical purposes, there's a high demand for cadavers and body parts. This international trade further complicates the tracking and ethical considerations of body donations. Further complicates the tracking and ethical considerations of body donations. Body parts from American donors have been exported to at least 45 countries and thousands of parts are sent abroad annually. Demand is high in nations where customs limit selling or dissecting their own dead. In US law, the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984 criminalizes the sale of human organs but does not regulate body parts used for education or research. The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act varies by state and often lacks enforcement mechanisms. Tissue banks are subject to FDA oversight, but only a fraction are inspected annually to FDA oversight, but only a fraction are inspected annually. International guidelines include the WHO guiding principles from 2010 that emphasize voluntary, unpaid donation and transparency, and then the Declaration of Istanbul in 2008 that condemns organ trafficking and transplant tourism, urging countries to become self-sufficient in organ donation.
Speaker 2:There are many ethical issues involved, such as informed consent. Many families are unaware that donation to science may involve dismemberment and resale Commodification. Treating body parts as a commodity raises moral concerns about human dignity and exploitation. Poor populations are disproportionately targeted for organ sales and body donation schemes. So this brings us to a case study. We're going to talk about a few different examples of how this played out In case study number one Colorado's secret industry. So we're going to zoom in on Colorado, one of the few states that doesn't regulate body brokers.
Speaker 2:In a stunning investigation by Denver 7 News, journalists uncovered one of the most egregious examples of body brokering, which took place in Montrose, colorado, at the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home. Morgan Hess, the funeral home's director, alongside her mother, shirley Cook, ran a side business on the same premises, a body brokerage firm. Families entrusted their loved ones to Sunset Mesa, believing they would receive traditional cremation services. Instead, many bodies were sold without consent and families were given urns filled with non-human material. Were given urns filled with non-human material, according to a Denver 7 reporter, for nearly a decade, two Colorado funeral home operators illegally sold body parts and, in some cases, entire bodies, without families knowing about it, and often gave them ashes that did not belong to their loved ones. The FBI's investigation revealed a macabre operation where body parts were sold to entities across the country. The FBI raided the premises in 2018 and found over 600 body parts stored in appalling conditions. In 2020, hess and Cook were invited to be indicted baby.
Speaker 2:You are invited to your indictment I like it On charges of mail fraud and transportation of hazardous materials. Their actions not only violated the trust of grieving families, but also highlighted the glaring gaps in regulation that allowed such practices to flourish unchecked. Case study number two science care, the McDonald's model of body brokering. Oh my gosh, if the idea of body brokers still feels abstract, let's talk about one of the biggest names in the industry ScienceCare. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Arizona, sciencecare isn't a backroom operation. It's a multi-million dollar corporation and arguably the most well-known body broker in the United States. It pioneered a model that looks less like a medical donation center and more like a national logistics chain, borrowing efficiency principles straight from companies like FedEx or McDonald's. Sciencecare has developed what it describes as a national donor program, with refrigerated trucks, regional dissection centers and a seamless infrastructure that allows it to receive, process and ship human remains across the country quickly and profitably. Their marketing promises that donated bodies will be used exclusively for legitimate medical research and education, and many times that's exactly what happens.
Speaker 2:Body parts are used for surgical training, prosthetic testing and anatomy programs, but critics argue that ScienceCare's scale and profit-driven model highlight the very problem with the lack of regulation. According to investigative reporting by Reuters, former employees described an operation run like a fast food franchise, with quotas, sales goals and high-pressure logistics to keep up with demand. One former worker said we were encouraged not to think about the donor as a person. We were told to keep it clinical and efficient Move product. I'm dying Listeners. That product could be a shoulder, a leg or even a whole torso destined for a surgical lab or medical device training in another state or country. In 2016, reuters reported that ScienceCare had received accreditation from the American Association of Tissue Banks but, unlike organ donation, this accreditation is entirely voluntary and doesn't substitute federal oversight. No federal law requires companies like ScienceCare to be certified, inspected or even licensed in most states.
Speaker 2:So, while ScienceCare appears to be more polished than the horror stories like Sunset Mesa, the fundamental issue remains there's a massive, mostly unregulated system of profiting off of donated human remains, and even the most legit players operate in a legal vacuum. So how is this legal? The short answer is because no one's really watching. The short answer is because no one's really watching. There's no national registry, no system to track remains, no regulatory requirements to inform families and or obtain consent, and, in most states, no government body checks what happens once that cadaver leaves the donor site. That's how people like Hess operated for years, unnoticed, unchecked and unpunished, until someone finally spoke out. Some states like New York, virginia and California have added their own laws, but others nothing. Take Colorado, for example.
Speaker 2:Until recently, there were zero state laws regulating this industry. That made it a hotspot for some of the worst abuse cases we've seen and, as you've heard, those cases weren't just unethical, they were deeply criminal. A CBS News investigation found brokers labeling boxes, quote medical research end quote and shipping them via FedEx oh my god. Sometimes internationally, but with almost no scrutiny. One employee interview put it bluntly quote if you can print a shipping label, you can move a human head. I'm so stressed. Those are words I never thought I would say.
Speaker 1:Oh my.
Speaker 2:God. So I started looking at some of these moving companies, like some of these transportation services, and I came across Airways Freight Corporation. And I came across Airways Freight Corporation and this is a company that on their website says they offer domestic trade shows and anatomical services, such as same-day expediters, flatbeds and oversized freight trailers, panel vans, refrigerated products, special escorts and single-team or team driver services. It also provides international services, including trade show services, such as pre-show liaison, documentation and site agent, pre-advice, site support, post-show disposal and return shipments.
Speaker 2:So this company is referenced in the book Body Brokers that I talked about and in her book, chaney interviewed Mike Nimmo, who was at the time the marketing director of this company, airways Brokers, and he said that about 80 body and this was in 2006. So who knows it's like two decades later and how much exponentially it's changed. But at the time he said that there was about 80 body part shipments a month using commercial airlines, fedex and UPS, and he's like I don't know if I should be talking about this because I don't think the public realize that these products are being shipped through the general system. Yeah, and I'm sure that in november 2003 fedex employees in maplewood, missouri, would agree with that. They noticed an unmarked package along with, oh my god, two others bound for the same. Oh my God. Oh, I'm so stressed, I'm just thinking, reporter. Well, boxes break, shrug emoji.
Speaker 1:I'm just thinking also like what if it got delivered to the wrong address and you had a head show up at your house?
Speaker 2:It's just horrific, all of it is. And then there's the families to think about, people like Wendy, who was cited in the book. She donated her mother's body, believing it would help cure a disease, but instead her mother's torso was sold to a medical device company and the rest of her remains were never returned. One man learned that his father's body was sold to the us military for explosive testing. Another family only found out the truth years later when investigators knocked on the door. I mean, they're not just bodies their parents, grandparents, siblings. For many families, this betrayal cuts deep. So case number three is one of our own, amanda. It's about an ENT yeah, your nose and throat doctor. On July 24th 1986, ups workers at the Stanford Field Sorting Center in Louisville, kentucky. Or, if I was going to be your co-worker, louisville, indiana.
Speaker 1:she says Louisville.
Speaker 2:Kentucky, or, if I was going to be your co-worker, lowell, lowellville, indiana. She says Lowellville, lowellville, kentucky. They were inspecting cargo for an overnight flight when they spotted several boxes from Philadelphia marked aerosol Now, ups won't transport aerosol containers so the workers removed the boxes. That's when they noticed a smell. God, it was a sweet, overripe smell, like something had spoiled, like meat perhaps, and the boxes were also leaking. Better open them up. The workers thought no, nestled, don't, uh, nestled inside were five human heads wrapped in plastic. They looked alive, but for their severed necks, which oozed a rancid bloody fluid, their workers were appalled. Obviously, and before long phones were ringing at dr richard greathouse office. He was a local coroner. He'd seen plenty of strange cases in his 29 years on the job, but this was one of the weirdest he'd seen. Yet he said I love this quote something really hokey was going on. Hokey, that's what you call a bunch of severed heads in a box and you do the hokey pokey and you ship the head right.
Speaker 2:You put your head in, your head out, your fat exit out and you shake it overnight shipping oh my gosh. So of course you jumped to the conclusion that somebody murdered these people and was trying to get rid of the evidence. I mean, wouldn't you?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, I would be mf-ing, mortified for the rest of my life so great house called the philadelphia Department and in a matter of hours detectives traced the boxes to a four-story Philadelphia mansion in the elegant tree-lined street of Rittenhouse Square. The limestone mansion was home to Dr Martin Spector, a well-known ENT, who lived upstairs with his wife and used the bottom floors of his house as his office, inside in a second a second floor refrigerator. Are you ready for this?
Speaker 2:no, I don't think so I ordered pizza that's waiting for me and I'm all of a sudden I was literally just thinking thank god.
Speaker 1:I'm like on an empty stomach because I feel a little nausea I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's for the greater good. Right, we got to educate our listeners. Inside in a second floor refrigerator, homicide detective daniel rosenstein and his partners found eight pairs of frozen ears not the ears they also found an order for 17 frozen arms and half heads with brains what from a boulder half half heads with brains, so I'm assuming they just wanted half the skull.
Speaker 2:yeah gosh, from a boulder, colorado research institute. When, uh, the detectives asked specter about this, the elderly doctor conceded that he'd been shipping ears and heads around the country to doctors and researchers for I don't know, going on 15 years, but he refused to name his source, besides saying that he got the parts from a pathologist I was going to say pathological psycho, but pathologist assistant.
Speaker 2:One of Spector's former secretaries recalled the dichotomy of knowing that there were patients sitting in the pleasant waiting area browsing magazines while upstairs staff were packing body parts into boxes. For the UPS guy they used to joke about his side hustle during coffee breaks. There was a time when some of his heads fell off a ups truck and rolled down the street. Are they kidding?
Speaker 2:no, oh my god the local medical community's general census. After news broken out about the body bits discovered at the mansion was that dr specter had lost his everlasting mind and was perhaps time for him to retire, his privileges at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine were suspended while the investigation continued. A search of Spector's downtown office revealed the names of several employees of local medical schools and a morgue worker Morgue workers that move. The bodies are called Dien d-i-n-e-r is the german word anyway uh from the university of pennsylvania, whom specter admitted he had enticed to supply him with parts. The men stole the body parts from dismembered medical school cadavers and autopsied bodies in the morgue. Soon, linward summersward Summers of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital was arrested after confessing that he'd been supplying Spector with stolen body parts for 10 years, earning $150 per head, $65 an arm and $20 for a set of ears.
Speaker 1:Only $10 for one ear.
Speaker 2:Come on, that was my first thought. It was like why? Why are the ears not worth much more? Anyway, on some occasions he said he made as much as $2,000 in cash just for one delivery.
Speaker 2:Summers harvested the parts from corpses that had undergone autopsies at the hospital, but weren't donors Gross. So Pennsylvania is one of the few states that prohibit the exportation of body parts. Go pennsylvania, I've been there. Law, I mean yeah, you have. Uh. The law also requires that anyone receiving a donated body have a license from the state, which specter did not, and the philadelphia district attorney charged the employees, dieter and specter, with conspiracy, theft, receiving stolen property, abuse of a corpse and violating the health code by shipping body parts out of the state. Specter lost his medical license and the others were all fired from their jobs. The Specter scandal was the first of many to come.
Speaker 2:Many medical schools have exploited their generous donors repeatedly. The families of people who donate their bodies to medical schools rarely know anything about their destination. The consent forms they sign are likely vague and many of the donors are trusting people, assuming that medical institutions and physicians will not betray them. Case number four even Havid, the morgue scandal that shocked academia. So, speaking of institutions. When we think of elite institutions, places like Harvard Medical School we assume that layers of integrity, accountability and honor, but in 2023, that image was shattered.
Speaker 1:The scandal began quietly.
Speaker 2:Recent Whispers, yeah, a federal investigation. And then a headline that stunned the medical community Harvard Medical School morgue manager accused of stealing and selling human remains. For years, cedric Lodge served as the morgue manager at Harvard's anatomical gift program. He had access to bodies donated in good faith individuals who believed they were helping to educate future surgeons and researchers. But behind the scenes, lodge was running a grotesque site operation. According to the federal indictment, he removed dissected parts from cadavers, including heads, brains, skin and bones, and sold them to collectors, educators and even self-described oddities dealers. Some transactions were arranged via Facebook and PayPal. Others were more macabre. One buyer was accused of tanning human skin to create leather.
Speaker 1:Okay, puts the lotion on the skin.
Speaker 2:Another allegedly purchased two dissected faces and displayed them at home. Lodge, even invited some of these buyers into the morgue itself, allowing them to select which remains they wanted to purchase. You know, little browsing, little window shopping. A federal prosecutor called it an affront to human dignity. I mean, some of this is ed gainsey right, like, didn't he make a purse out of his mom's yes, hoo-ha, or something anyway? Um, or a purse out of his mom's yes, hoo-ha, or something Anyway. Or a belt out of her chichas? Yeah, I like my scientific terms.
Speaker 1:Chichas.
Speaker 2:So disgusting. So it wasn't just Lodge His wife and multiple co-conspirators across several states were indicted, and their transactions spanned years and involved tens of thousands of dollars, all sourced from bodies entrusted to one of the most respected institutions in the world. For Harvard, the fallout was enormous. The school called it a betrayal of the Harvard Medical School community and immediately shut down the morgue and restructured the donor program. But the scandal raised a chilling question If this can happen at Harvard, with the world watching what's going on at smaller institutions, private brokers or funeral homes where no one's watching, the truth, no one really knows improper documentation not for selling the bodies themselves, because technically, that part's.
Speaker 2:Legal Lawmakers have proposed reforms, including mandatory licensing, inspections and consent forms, but only a few states have enacted serious regulations. So far. There's no federal law stopping anyone from starting a body broker business tomorrow, and that's what makes us so dangerous. Every day, bodies are donated with good intentions and some of those bodies enter a system built for profit and not ethics. Before the networks caught on, before the FBI raided funeral homes and before Harvard's name was dragged into the body trade, there was a journalist named Annie Cheney. Back in 2003, cheney published an article in Harper's Magazine called the Resurrection Men, which eventually became the foundation for her chilling 2006 book Body Brokers Inside America's Underground Trade and Human Remains.
Speaker 2:Cheney was one of the first to dive into this underground economy. Her reporting didn't just focus on policy or law. It focused on people, on grief, on betrayal. She told stories of families who donated a loved one's body for noble causes, only to later discover it had been dismembered, sold or dumped. One case she uncovered was that of a man whose widow believed that his body was donated to medical research. In truth, his head was sold to a training seminar and his arms and legs shipped to various surgical device companies. None of it was communicated, none of it was consensual and it wasn't an outlier. This was the system.
Speaker 2:Cheney documented how body brokers preyed upon the poor, the grieving and the uninformed. Many brokers would approach families under the guise of medical research, promising dignity, cremation and closure, but then turn around and make thousands by slicing and selling the body to the highest bidder. In an interview, cheney said it's not the donation itself that's the problem, it's the secrecy, it's the lies. These families wanted to do something meaningful and instead they were exploited. Cheney's work came years before national media really caught on. She sounded the alarm and for a while not many listened. But today, nearly two decades later, the stories she uncovered remain painfully relevant. Her book was the one that gave us the term we use today still body brokers people who profit off the dead in the absence of regulation, in the shadows of science and sometimes in plain sight.
Speaker 2:After everything we've uncovered the scandals, the profit motives, the lies one thing becomes painfully clear the US body donation system is broken and it's not enough to expose the problems. We need to talk about solutions If we want to protect the dignity of donors, if we want to ensure families aren't exploited, if we want to bring science and ethics back into an alignment, then reform is not optional, it's essential. So here are four recommendations that experts, ethicists and investigators have called for, and they're long overdue, in my opinion. Number one transparency and tracking. Imagine if we could trace a body from donation to final use, just like you track a package in the mail. A national registry could do that. Every donor, every transfer, every dissection verified, logged and accessible to the family and regulators. Some tech advocates have even proposed blockchain-based identifiers to make tracking tamper-proof and publicly auditable. No more backroom deals, no more vanishing cadavers.
Speaker 2:Number two standardized consent forms. Right now, consent documents vary wildly from one body broker to another. Many are vague, some don't mention resale, some don't mention export. So there should be a federal requirement for clear, uniform consent forms, forms that spell out exactly what could happen to a donated body, including whether it can be dismembered, sold for profit or shipped overseas, and unless that consent is clearly given, then those actions should be illegal.
Speaker 2:Number three stricter oversight. Today, organ donation is highly regulated by the US Department of Health and Human Services, but when it comes to the full-body donations, the FDA has little to no authority. That has to change. Every non-transplant tissue bank should be licensed, audited and inspected, just like any facility handing human material. Penalties for violating donor consent or selling body parts illegally should be severe and enforceable. I mean, we have rules for how to handle biohazard waste. Why don't we have stronger rules for actually handling human beings?
Speaker 2:Number four international cooperation. The body trade is not just an American problem. Cadaver parts are bought and sold across borders every day. We need to push for international treaties that regulate the trade of human remains, just like we do with human trafficking and organ harvesting. The Declaration of Istanbul, drafted in 2008, provides a strong ethical framework, but not every country has ratified it. The US can take the lead in building cross-border investigative teams to identify trafficking rings, shut down shady exporters and ensure that donation never becomes a front for exploitation.
Speaker 2:If there's one thing we've learned, it's that transparency is power, and when people know the truth, they can make informed decisions, they can protect their families, they can advocate for change. But secrecy secrecy is the currency of the body brokers. So ask questions, demand answers. If you or a loved one is considering body donation, read the fine print, call the organization, ask where the body will go ask what they'll do with it, and don't accept vague assurances. Behind every headline, behind every broken promise, is a real person who thought they were doing the right thing. They deserve better, and we owe it to them and ourselves to make sure the system does better. We need these changes in order to ensure respect for the dead while advancing care for the living, and once again I've gone down a rabbit hole of a compassion plea that I didn't even know I had.
Speaker 1:And that's a wrap but as you were reading those four ideas in my head, I was like period, exclamation, point, period, underline, bold underline, underline like um. Can I get an amen? Hello louder for those in the back? Um. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention because, honestly, I had no idea this was going on me either and so if people don't know what's going on, then oh my God also how gross and how sad. How sad for these families.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, okay, you could argue that like, okay, well, you know, the soul's gone, it's just a shell or whatever. But that's not up to you to decide, that's up to the families and how they feel about it, and there should be some dignity and also you should be able to have a say. I mean, these people were being philanthropic by donating their body to science, hoping for the betterment of mankind, not to line some asshole's pocket.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and be shipped by a FedEx.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wanted to donate my whole body to science, but I don't want to be FedExed all over the show dripping pink stuff on people I know like, ah yeah, how is that helpful? No, so it really opened my eyes donations but I believe that with our eyes open, we can make better choices in terms of ensuring that what we're donating is going towards what, where our cause is, or our mission for that donation and I kind of love the idea of the tracking.
Speaker 1:Like you get to track your package, you know, and so then, like at the end, you get to see like oh, okay, like our loved one was received by x center and like this will help, yeah, and it doesn't have to be like for a specific, like this is what the body part went to, but like this overarching goal of ours will help be reached by the, by your donation. Thank you.
Speaker 2:It didn't go to Dr Spock. There's a mansion. What if?
Speaker 1:to be.
Speaker 2:FedExed off for his personal extra profit, like he's not already making enough. Jeez, yeah, man, I'm just so bitter about that. Um, but yeah, I'm gonna start thinking about it now and wondering, like, why isn't there legislation out there about that? I, I know when my tide laundry detergent has left the building in chicago and when amazon has dropped it off at our you know intermediary center, whatever. How could you not know?
Speaker 1:you're a person's human remains and um, I had to like highlight a couple things that you read um. So some of these things were being sold to collectors and oddity dealers. Like who the fuck are these people?
Speaker 2:First of all, I don't know if you recall the Dr Sherman episodes where I had been in New Orleans and where did I get that book? An oddity shop, yeah, yeah, and there were body parts in jars and things, but like you, don't.
Speaker 1:I would guess if I saw that, like that's not real, Like someone made it out of, like a yeah, like clay or whatever.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Now I'm upset that the book that I bought might've helped somebody buying something, and the thing is it's not illegal.
Speaker 1:That blew my ever-loving mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how is this? This is a massive loophole, this is a massive oversight and, god bless, what is it Turkey that figured out, like in 2008,. Like you know what guys? We shouldn't be doing this. Lost my notes. Istanbul.
Speaker 1:Istanbul. Yeah, thank you All right. Uh, lost my notes. But um istanbul, istanbul, istanbul. Yeah, thank you all right. So we have a medical mishap sent to us from a listener um whose name is trevor. We can share trevor hi trevor and trevor writes hi with a bunch of eyes and exclamation points and I vibe with that.
Speaker 1:So, hi, trevor, they say oh, my god, first of all, I love you guys so much, thank you. Thank you, I love you too, trevor. Trevor, hi, um, they say I look forward to tuning in each week and I'll admit that I do sing along to Chard Note, bless. I love that. I've actually had other people tell me that they sing along to Chard Note too, so I love that. Just a bunch of us alley cats out here and people are vibing with it.
Speaker 2:I'm here for it.
Speaker 1:So then they write so I'm in my mid-30s, right, same, not exactly an athlete Same, I'm just kidding, but not exactly falling apart either, or so I thought One evening. I'm chilling on the couch, snacking on some Cheetos, living my best low effort life. One of the Cheetos slips between the cushions and in a moment of sheer determination, or maybe desperation, I reach for it. Big mistake I feel this sharp pull in my back, like I've just tried to deadlift a car. Instant regret. Now I'm in pain and limping around like I'm 90. So I go to grab what I think are my muscle relaxants. I pop one flop back on the couch and wait for sweet, sweet relief.
Speaker 1:About a half an hour later I'm sweating like I just ran a marathon. My heart is pounding out of my chest and everything around me starts to get weird. Like colors are talking to me. Weird. My roommate walks in and finds me sitting on the floor in my boxers having a very intense conversation with a houseplant. Apparently I was asking it for career advice. Uh-oh, next stop ER. First of all, trevor, I feel like we are friends.
Speaker 2:Are we friends?
Speaker 1:Okay. So at the hospital, my heart rate is off the charts, my pupils are massive and I cannot shut up. I'm telling the nurse my life story and I can tell that they'd rather have peace and quiet, but I can't stop word vomiting out of my mouth. It was a whole thing, aw. After some questioning and a little Sherlock Holmes style medical sleuthing, we figured out I accidentally took my cat's meds. Not just any meds kitty ADHD pills, pet grade amphetamines what that's a.
Speaker 2:Thing.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I was fine, thankfully, but for the rest of the year, the rest of the year and, I'm sure, for the rest of my time of my life, everyone and I mean everyone started calling me Whiskers.
Speaker 2:Everyone started calling me Whiskers Trevor. Oh, thank you Whiskers. Thanks Whiskers.
Speaker 1:We're going to jump on the bandwagon. Thank you, whiskers, our new friend, trevor. That was amazing and you wrote that You're hilarious. Thank you for sending that to us. Thank you, Trevor Whiskers.
Speaker 2:Trevor Whiskers. Trevor Whiskers Listen, amanda. Yeah, I feel like I've gone a little bit over, so I'm just going to get right to it. What can our listeners expect to hear next week?
Speaker 1:Well y'all, I kind of went down a deep rabbit hole of a you know, a serial killer and then I thought this is too much and it's too close to swango, so I said I gotta find something else. So then I found this uh, bad news bears pharmacist. So I'm telling you, when I was doing the research my jaw was on the floor and I was telling my husband about it and he was like what?
Speaker 1:And I was like exactly. So, anyway, you're not going to want to miss it. Um, so be sure to tune in next week to hear about this shit bag. Pharmacist. Sorry for swearing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't wait, that sounds amazing. I can't wait.
Speaker 1:That sounds amazing. But before we go, a sponsor number two we have a little discount code for you. For you know, I don't know, do you ever? You ever get tired? You ever have a case of the yawns? Do I need an IV of coffee in my veins. Do I find that on?
Speaker 2:hump day. I'm a little bit lagging. Why, yes, tell me more.
Speaker 1:Well, yes, it's so funny that you mentioned coffee Coffee, because there is a company called Strong Coffee Company which brings a revolution to your coffee experience with its premium instant blends designed for those who seek both convenience and health benefits. I mean, what more could you really want? The Black Fairtrade Instant Coffee stands out, offering a robust and smooth flavor similar to a traditional cup of coffee, but enhanced with added benefits. Each serving is enriched with 15 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of MCTs and 250 milligrams of adaptogens, including ashwagandha and theanine.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, it's ashwagandha and theanine please, please, please, as Sabrina Carpenter was saying, cut out my snort, okay you guys?
Speaker 2:I think we're high on this.
Speaker 1:Already just reading about it gives me energy. Could you imagine the kind of energy you get if you're actually drinking this?
Speaker 2:I'm like good, oh my God, this ensures so does ashwagandha and theanine ensure sustained energy, improved alertness and a calming effect without jitters?
Speaker 1:Amanda, I would say so. This unique combination of ingredients promotes better sleep and mental clarity, making it an ideal choice for busy professionals. For those who prefer a creamer option, strong Coffee Company's lattes combined the benefits of protein, collagen and hyaluronic acid with organic arabica coffee and healthy fats. To feel your mind and body for hours, thank you, more productive day with strong coffee company. And if you go to strong coffee companycom, you can save yourself a whopping 20% with the discount code. Stay suspicious If you stuck with me through that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:It'll be worth it because you'll be awake At least you'll be awake for it, and so until next week, when I tell you about that pharmacist, don't miss a beat. Subscribe or following Doctoring the Truth wherever you enjoy your podcasts, for stories that shock, intrigue and educate. Trust, after all, is a delicate thing. You can text us directly on our website at doctoringthetruthatbuzzsproutcom, email us your own story, ideas, medical mishaps and comments at doctoring the truth at Gmail, and be sure to follow us on Instagram at doctoring the truth podcast, or on Facebook at doctoring the truth. Don't forget to download, rate and review so we can be sure to bring you more content next week. Until then, stay safe and stay suspicious. Bye.
