International US body brokers supply world with torsos ...

International

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Friday, February 9, 2018

US body brokers supply world with torsos, limbs and heads

MedCure sells or leases about 10,000 body parts from US donors annually

PORTLAND, Oregon: On July 20, a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship departed Charleston, South Carolina carrying thousands of containers. One of them held a lucrative commodity: body parts from dozens of dead Americans.

According to the manifest, the shipment bound for Europe included about 6,000 pounds of human remains valued at $67,204. To keep the merchandise from spoiling, the container's temperature was set to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The body parts came from a Portland business called MedCure Inc. A socalled body broker, MedCure profits by dissecting the bodies of altruistic donors and sending the parts to medical training and research companies.

MedCure sells or leases about 10,000 body parts from US donors annually, shipping about 20 percent of them overseas, internal corporate and manifest records show. In addition to bulk cargo shipments to the Netherlands, where MedCure operates a distribution hub, the Oregon company has exported body parts to at least 22 other countries by plane or truck, the records show.

Among the parts: a pelvis and legs to a university in Malaysia; feet to medical device companies in Brazil and Turkey; and heads to hospitals in Slovenia and the United Arab Emirates. Demand for body parts from America torsos, knees and heads is high in countries where religious traditions or laws prohibit the

dissection of the dead. Unlike many developed they were fully informed," said Brandi

nations, the United States largely does not reg- Schmitt, who directs the University of Califor-

ulate the sale of donated body parts, allowing nia system's anatomical donation program.

entrepreneurs such as MedCure to expand ex- "But clearly there are plenty of donors that

ports rapidly during the last decade.

do mind and that don't feel like they're getting

No other nation has an industry that can enough information."

provide as convenient and reliable a supply of MedCure shipments are now the subject of

body parts.

a federal investigation. In November, the Fed-

Since 2008, Reuters found, US body bro- eral Bureau of Investigation raided the com-

kers have exported parts to at least 45 coun- pany's Portland headquarters. Though the

tries, including Italy, Israel, Mexico, China, search warrant remains sealed, people familiar

Venezuela and Saudi

with the matter say it

Arabia. Whole bodies are studied at

Body brokers

relates in part to overseas shipping.

Caribbean-based medical schools. Plastic surgeons in Germany use

exported parts

MedCure is cooper-

to 45 countries

ating with the investigation, said its lawyer,

heads from dead Americans to practice new

since 2008

Jeffrey Edelson. He declined to comment on

techniques. Thousands

the FBI raid, but said:

of parts are shipped

"MedCure is commit-

overseas annually; a

ted to meeting and ex-

precise number cannot be calculated because ceeding the highest standards in the industry.

no agency tracks industry exports. Most donor It takes very seriously its obligation to not only

consent forms, including those from MedCure, deliver safe specimens securely, but to do it in

authorize brokers to dissect bodies and ship a way that respects the donors."

parts internationally. Even so, some relatives of Edelson also said MedCure "partners with

the dead said they did not realize that the re- government and industry agencies to follow

mains of a loved one might be dismembered and exceed requirements for shipping human

and sent to the far reaches of the globe.

tissue," and that "shipping handlers, drivers and

"There are people who wouldn't necessar- carriers are specially trained for the safe han-

ily mind where the specimens were sent if dling and transportation of human specimens."

Infected parts at the border As a Reuters series last year revealed, the body donation industry is so lightly regulated in the United States that almost anyone can legally buy, sell or lease body parts. Although no federal law expressly regulates the body trade, there is one situation in which the US government does exercise oversight: when body parts leave or enter the country. Border agents have the authority to ensure that the parts are not infected with contagious diseases and are properly shipped. This authority played a leading role in the government securing a conviction last month of Detroit broker Arthur Rathburn, who stored body parts in grisly, unsanitary conditions, according to trial testimony. The FBI began to focus intently on Rathburn's business, International Biological Inc, after repeated border stops in which he was found ferrying human heads, court records show. The jury found that Rathburn defrauded customers by supplying body parts infected with HIV and hepatitis. "The fraud scheme orchestrated by IBI shocked even the most experienced of our investigative team," said FBI special-agent-in-charge David Gelios. Even in death, Gelios said in a statement after the verdict, donors were "victimized as IBI intentionally and recklessly marketed and transported contaminated human remains -- Personal greed overcame decency." -- Reuters

Maldives

president

shuns European

diplomats

MAL..., Maldives: Maldives President Abdulla Yameen refused yesterday to meet senior European diplomats who were the first foreign dignitaries to visit the troubled nation since his crackdown on the islands' judiciary. Envoys from the European Union, Germany and Britain arrived in the capital after top judges and several other dissidents were arrested this week, as Yameen appeared to gain the upper hand in a bitter power struggle. The tiny island nation has been grappling with a political crisis after the president refused to obey a Supreme Court order to release nine political prisoners and declared a state of emergency. The German Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jorn Rohde, said the trio requested meetings to discuss Yameen's crackdown on dissent which the UN human rights chief had dubbed "an all-out assault on democracy".

"Sadly the Maldivian government refuses dialogue today with my UK/EU colleagues... Our

requests were unfortunately refused," Rohde said on Twitter. "That is surely not the way forward." The diplomats, based in neighboring Sri Lanka but also accredited to the Maldives, arrived in Male after the regime said it was open to foreign observers visiting the country.

However, foreign media have effectively been barred after authorities imposed tough visa conditions and warned they would take up to three weeks to process applications.

The UN has urged Yameen to lift the state of emergency, and was due to discuss the crisis gripping the Indian Ocean archipelago in a closed-door meeting at the Security Council yesterday.

"The Maldives have seen in recent years attacks on political opponents, on journalists, on civil society and human right defenders, and what is happening now is tantamount to an allout assault on democracy," UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said Wednesday. Western governments, as well as neighboring India and China have asked their citizens not to go on holiday to the Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered 800-kilometres (550miles) across the equator.

The crisis in the country of 340,000 Sunni Muslims came to a head a week ago when the Supreme court in a shock decision ordered Yameen to release all political dissidents after quashing their convictions. Yameen refused to comply and insisted that the court reverses its order.

MALE: A Maldives laborer carries watermelons at a local fruits and vegetables market in Maldives capital Male yesterday. The international community has censured Maldives President Abdulla Yameen for imposing special emergency provisions that allow the military to detain suspects for long periods without charge. -- AFP

Eventually he declared a state of emergency, took away the powers of the judiciary and parliament to impeach him and arrested the Chief Justice and another judge. He also arrested former

president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his estranged half-brother who was the last remaining opposition figure in the country. All other key opponents of Yameen are either in jail or in exile. -- AFP

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