Body Broker Bill
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Body Broker Bill

Current Issues
Home Advocacy Current Issues Body Broker Bill

Protect the Dignity of Those Who Donate Their Bodies for Medical Research and Give Peace of Mind to Families

When a family chooses to donate a loved one’s body for education or research, they do so with the hope that they will help others. Regrettably, many are unknowingly contributing to a for-profit industry in which the body of their loved one could be traded as raw material in a largely unregulated national market. When the 118th Congress introduces the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act, which has the full support of NFDA, it will be taking a significant step toward protecting the dignity of donors and offering peace of mind to families.

The Solution

The solution to the heartbreak experienced by too many families is the Consensual Donation & Research Integrity Act (S. 2191/H.R. 4275), which will protect the dignity of donors and give families peace of mind by creating standards for registration; inspection; chain of custody; labeling and packaging; and proper disposition. NFDA hopes to see the 118th Congress will introduce this bill soon. 

Download the Guide to the CDRI Act

NFDA strongly urges the Senate and House of Representatives to pass the Consensual Donation & Research Integrity Act and provide necessary minimum standards to the whole-body donation process and ensure donors’ bodies are treated with dignity and respect at all times. The families of donors deserve peace of mind, knowing their loved one’s body will make a difference.

Have Questions?

If you have questions about the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act, contact NFDA Senior Vice President, Advocacy, Lesley Witter at lwitter@nfda.org. 

Impact on Families

A broker in Detroit sold and rented body parts infected with HIV and hepatitis … another sold body parts for use in U.S. Army blast experiments … another left bodies and body parts to decompose due to improper storage … another dissected donor bodies with a chainsaw. These are just a few of the stories detailed in an article published by Reuters, detailing the devastating impact of body brokers.

Hear about the impact of body brokers from donor families in these news stories:

The Story of the Saunders Family

  • Live Autopsy of COVID Victim Allegedly Took Place Without Family's Consent (Newsweek)
  • Family of Man Dissected at Autopsy Event Says They Didn’t Give Consent (KING-TV (Seattle)
  • COVID-19 Victim Reportedly Dissected At Ticketed Event Without Family's Consent (Huffington Post)
  • Outrage as Live Autopsy is Carried Out on WW2 Veteran (The Daily Mail)

WXYZ-TV Detroit

Sunset Mesa - Colorado

  • Colorado Funeral Home Body Brokering Scheme, Part 1 - The Perfect Scam Podcast by AARP
  • Sunset Mesa - Criminal Podcast
  • Exclusive: FBI Raids Colorado Body Broker Following Reuters Report
  • Montrose Funeral Home Owner Who Allegedly Sold Hundreds of Bodies Without Families’ Consent is Federally Indicted
  • Date Set for Trial in Case of Funeral Home Selling Body Parts
  • Second Plea in U.S. Funeral Home Scheme to Sell Body Parts
  • Koch's Sentence Date Continued in Fraud Case Centered on Sale of Bodies
  • Families Demand Accountability in Sunset Mesa Body Scheme Case as Koch Pleads to Mail Fraud
  • Former Colorado Funeral Home Owner Sentenced to 20 yrs for Selling Body Parts
  • 'Somebody Murdered my Dead Husband': Victims of Colo. Funeral Home that Doubled as Body Broker Begin to Heal

WBBM-TV Chicago

KING-TV

Former Seattle 'Body Broker' Convicted for Dumping Bodies in Arizona

WPMT-TV

Cumberland County Man Accused of Illegally Purchasing Human Remains for Resale on Facebook

Reuters Expose on Body Brokers

The Body Trade: Cashing in on the Donated Dead

Harvard Medical School

  • Harvard Tells Horrified Husband His Wife's Remains May Have Been Sold in a Body Part Trafficking Operation by a Former Morgue Manager
  • Ex-mortuary Worker Indicted for Selling Stolen Body Parts for $11k to a Man She Met on Facebook (New York Post)
  • Niece Who Gave Aunt's Body to Harvard Medical School for Science Research Reveals Her Disgust After Morgue Manager is Accused of Selling Hundreds of Corpses

The Stories of Other Families

  • Grisly Scene: FBI Finds Stolen Human Remains 'Decorated' Around Mount Washington Man's Home
  • Her Remains Were Dumped in Arizona. Now her Family is Calling for Regulation of the Body Donation Industry
  • The Body Parts Industry is Booming With Heads Going for $3K, Spines for $1,200
  • ‘The Person Becomes a Commodity’: Funeral Directors Seek Law to Regulate ‘Body Brokers’
  • Bombshell Allegations Surface Against Illinois Organization After 3 Severed Heads Appear on Worker's Desk
  • Morgue Manager at Harvard Medical School, Several Others Charged for Selling Stolen Body Parts
  • My Loved One Donated Their Body To Science. This Is What It Meant For My Grief. (Huffington Post)

News Coverage & Bill Status

  • It’s Legal to Sell Body Parts. . . .Congress Introduces “Body Broker” Bill to Give Some Respect to the Process
  • Bilirakis, Fletcher, Murphy and Tillis Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Stop Brokering of Body Parts, Preserve Integrity of Organ Donation Process (Rep Bilirakis Press Release, June 26, 2023)
  • Murphy, Tillis, Bilirakis, Fletcher Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill To Stop The Brokering Of Body Parts, Preserve Integrity Of Organ Donation Process (Sen. Murphy Press Release, June 26, 2023)
  • Body Brokers Come Under Scrutiny In Congressional Bill (Funeral Vision, June 26, 2023)
  • Congress Takes Significant Step to Regulate Body Brokers (NFDA News Release, June 23, 2023)
  • Murphy, Tillis Introduce the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act (Sen. Chris Murphy News Release - September 22, 2022)
  • Body Broker Bill Introduced in the Senate (NFDA News Release, September 23, 2022)
  • Body Broker Bill Introduced in Congress (NFDA news release, June 23, 2021)
  • Proposed Federal Legislation Would Impose Regulations To Prevent Black-Market Brokering Of Donated Body Parts (WBBM-TV, Chicago, June 22, 2021)
  • Advocacy Awareness: Guarding Their Dignity (The Director, November 2021 - NFDA members only; login required)

Listen

Listen to an episode of the NFDA podcast, A Brush With Death, from July 2021 to learn more about body brokers and the CDRI Act. 

“Non-transplant tissue banks that accept whole body donations need to be better regulated. There are regulations that govern how the body of an individual may be donated, but there is little federal or state oversight over what happens to that donation. This means that anyone, regardless of expertise, can set up a facility and dissect and sell or lease human bodies and body parts to anyone. The money that can be made by body brokers is significant and has led to bad actors taking advantage of the generosity of donor families by desecrating the bodies of their loved ones. We encourage Congress to pass the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act.”

2022-23 NFDA President Jack Mitchell, CFSP, CCSP

   

“We have heard upsetting stories from families that believed they were doing a good thing when they donated a loved one’s body for medical research. They truly believed the donation would create a positive legacy. However, the shocking actions of body brokers have only caused further grief. We strongly urge Congress to pass the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act and provide long-overdue accountability and transparency to the whole-body donation process and ensure donors’ bodies are treated with dignity and respect at all times.”

NFDA CEO Christine Pepper, CAE

   

“NFDA fully supports and applauds congressional efforts to pass the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act, which will provide long-overdue accountability and transparency to the whole-body donation process and ensure donors’ bodies are treated with dignity and respect at all times.”

NFDA Senior Vice President, Advocacy, Lesley Witter, MPA, CAE

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