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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. With the introduction of the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act of 2021 (H.R. 4062; CDRI Act) in the House, which has the full support of NFDA, Congress is taking a significant step toward protecting the dignity of donors and offering peace of mind to families.

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:

WBBM-TV Chicago

As grotesque and shocking abuses of donor bodies abound, and grief-stricken family members are taken advantage of by unscrupulous body brokers, the need for federal regulation of this process could not be more clear. The Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act will ensure that individuals and families who make the selfless decision to advance scientific research can be certain that their remains, or the remains of their loved ones, will be treated with the utmost dignity and respect.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
 Sponsor of the CDRI Act

This important legislation provides safeguards to ensure that human remains are disposed of in a manner that preserves the dignity and choices of the patient or next of kin. The industry has been largely unregulated and sadly many families have been exploited for profit. Our bill gives family members the peace of mind of knowing that their wishes are being honored.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)
Co-sponsor of the CDRI Act

The Solution

The solution to the heartbreak experienced by too many families is the Consensual Donation & Research Integrity Act, 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.

Members: Log in now to access an NFDA member-only guide to the CDRI Act.

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For Members of Congress & Concerned Citizens

Learn more about the solution contained in the Consensual Donation & Research Integrity Act, the devastation caused by body brokers and the difference between donation for transplantation and whole-body donation.

Download the Guide to the CDRI Act of 2021

News Coverage & Bill Status

Listen

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

NFDA is grateful to Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for introducing the CDRI Act. NFDA strongly urges the House of Representatives to pass the CDRI 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. The families of donors deserve peace of mind, knowing their loved one’s body will make a difference.

We have heard heartbreaking 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 repugnant actions of body brokers have only caused further grief. From bodies being dismembered with chainsaws to families receiving sand instead of their loved one’s cremated remains – it’s one devastating story after another. We strongly urge the House to pass the CDRI 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 President R. Bryant Hightower Jr., CFSP
Carrollton, Georgia

The heinous acts committed by body brokers have deeply impacted the families I serve in my home state of Arizona. The anguish body brokers have caused must be stopped. I am proud that NFDA is taking on this important issue and ask my fellow members to join me in fighting for the dignity of those we serve. NFDA will be giving us the tools we need to reach out and lobby our members of Congress. With your help, we can get the CDRI Act passed.

NFDA member Hillary Adair
 Williams, Arizona