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 (CDRI Act) in the House (H.R. 4062), which has the full support of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), Congress is taking a significant step toward protecting the dignity of donors and offering peace of mind to families.
“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,” said NFDA President R. Bryant Hightower Jr., CFSP. “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.”
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