USA: SCANDAL GROWS OVER MISUSE OF WILLED BODY PARTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (UCLA) IN LOS ANGELES
Record ID:
584856
USA: SCANDAL GROWS OVER MISUSE OF WILLED BODY PARTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (UCLA) IN LOS ANGELES
- Title: USA: SCANDAL GROWS OVER MISUSE OF WILLED BODY PARTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA (UCLA) IN LOS ANGELES
- Date: 8th March 2004
- Summary: (W1) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 8, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. PERIMETER SIGN ANNOUNCING THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES (UCLA) 2. STUDENTS WALKING ON CAMPUS IN FRONT OF BUILDING HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE 0.19 3. Dr. GERALD LEVEY, VICE CHANCELLOR OF UCLA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT PODIUM 4. (SOUNDBITE)(English) Dr. GERALD LEVEY, VICE CHANCELLOR OF UCLA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, SAYING "As of today, two individuals including the director of the UCLA Willed Body Program have been arrested by the University of California police department, for illegal activities involving the commercialization of human remains." 5. MUG SHOTS OF ERNEST NELSON (ON THE LEFT) AND HENRY REID, DIRECTOR OF THE WILLED BODY PROGRAM AT UCLA (ON THE RIGHT) 6. ERNEST NELSON MUG SHOT 7. HENRY REID MUG SHOT 8. NEWS CONFERENCE 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOUIS MARLIN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING UCLA, AFTER BEING ASKED ABOUT REPORTS THAT 800 BODIES WERE INVOLVED, SAYING "The fact is that we don't know the answer to that now. The documentation that would contain that information is the subject of the police investigation, and until that has been completed and until it has been gone through we cannot give an answer and we feel it is best not to be guessing at all. As soon as that information is available to us we will begin to go through it and we hope to come up with a number. (REPORTER SAYS, THERE IS A REPORT OF EIGHT HUNDRED BODIES) I understand there is a report of eight hundred bodies." 10. MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARL ROSS, ACTING CHIEF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA POLICE DEPARTMENT, SAYING "The evidence at the scene indicated that there was grand theft that occurred. There is a strong possibility that additional charges will be added but at this time it's too early in the investigation to come up with a conclusion as to all the charges that may be forthcoming." 12. MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEVEY, SAYING "Based what we've learned so far, we have no indication that the anatomical specimens involved in this case were used for anything other than medical research. Part of the ongoing investigation will focus on verifying that. Nonetheless, these alleged crimes violate the trust of the donors their families and UCLA. We are deeply sorry." 14. NEWS CONFERENCE WITH LEVEY AT PODIUM 2.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd March 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAAGEYXBMQJJIWYWC2L2A7KDMDZ
- Story Text: A scandal grows over the misuse of willed body parts
at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Officials at one of California's most prestigious
universities on Monday (March 8) made fully public, details
of a widening scandal over the sale of body parts from
donated cadavers, but maintained the integrity of the
beleaguered program.
Two people, including the program administrator, were
arrested over the weekend and accused of selling body parts
from the university's body freezer to medical research
laboratories.
Ernest Nelson said he bought parts from more than 800
cadavers over the past six years with the consent of
program administrator Henry Reid, who was arrested on
Sunday (March 7) on suspicion of grand theft and what
Gerald Levey, vice chancellor of the UCLA School of
Medicine called "the commercialization of human remains."
At the news conference on Monday where Levey spoke,
other UCLA officials said police had served a search
warrant on the offices of the Willed Body Program and added
the investigation could result in more arrests and federal
charges if body parts crossed state lines.
The exact number of body parts remains in question.
UCLA attorney Louis Marlin said he was aware of reports
that 800 bodies were involved, but that "the documentation
that would contain that information is the subject of the
police investigation, and until that has been completed and
until it has been gone through we cannot give an answer and
we feel it is best not to be guessing at all."
University officials had no reason to suspect any
wrongdoing and had, in fact, sworn last week in an
unrelated lawsuit that the program was running smoothly
under Reid.
That lawsuit, filed in 1996 by relatives of donors,
accused the UCLA program of cremating thousands of donated
bodies along with the remains of animals used in laboratory
experiments. Reid, a licensed embalmer, was hired to
keep better track of the 175 bodies donated each year to
UCLA to be used by medical students and researchers.
Officials said the 54-year-old Willed Body Program, the
nation's oldest, will not shut down even temporarily during
the investigation.
Simultaneous with Monday's news conference was a
lawsuit filed by families of donors, claiming that
officials there must have condoned the sale of their
relatives' remains.
For its part, the university was contrite. "These
alleged crimes violate the trust of the donors, their
families and of UCLA. We are deeply sorry," said Levey. He
also said there were no indications that any of the
anatomical specimens were used for anything other than
medical research.
UCLA is one of several medical schools to be associated
with the booming and shadowy market in body parts, which
are highly sought by researchers, medical firms and
surgeons-in-training. Federal law prohibits making a profit
in the sales of human body parts but allows nonprofit
organizations to recover their costs from transactions.
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