By James Melik
Business reporter, BBC World Service
However distasteful it might be for some people, there is a legitimate demand
for human organs, tissues and bodies, for use by academics and the medical
profession.
Anatomical examination involves human bodies to train students, surgeons and
other healthcare professionals about the structure of the body and how it
works.
Organisations in the UK which carry out these activities are licensed by the
Human Tissue Authority.
People can decide in advance to donate their body or organs to medical science
after their death.
No payment is made to the person who donates their body, nor to the estate of
the deceased.
Niche market
In the US, however, there is an increasingly commercial element to this supply
and demand, with not-for-profit corporations involved in the procurement of
bodies.
They offer financial support to families of the dead, arranging for the
processing and transport of bodies, as well as final cremation.
Professor Michel Anteby at Harvard University is concerned about how they
operate.
"In the US, it is a felony to actually purchase or sell a body, human tissue or
organs," he says.
Some of these ventures have become extremely successful and get more than
1,000 donations [bodies] a year
Prof Michel Anteby, Harvard University
"But the law excludes the payment for the removal, processing and preservation
of cadavers."
Getting reimbursed for such services opens up a huge window for commerce.
"The US is a wonderful place to see entrepreneurs in action and this is what
they have done," he maintains.
"About 15 years ago, some people decided that there was a niche for such
services and these ventures have become extremely successful. Some of them get
more than 1,000 donations a year."
Prof Anteby also points out that the commerce of cadavers is unregulated.
"Selling a house requires a licence, even selling candy at a state fair
requires a licence, but no licence is required involving a cadaver."
Total package
Under US law, people can say they want to donate their bodies to science, or
their next-of-kin can donate them after they are dead and non-profit
organisations can accept these "anatomical gifts".
We expect to recover between $5,000 and $6,000 per cadaver
Brent Bardsley, Anatomy Gifts Registry
The Anatomy Gifts Registry charges fees for supplying bodies and tissues to
medical companies and universities for applications in medical science and
research.
"We have to offset our expenses, which include transportation of the deceased,
the work that goes into obtaining the consent, the post-mortem procedures to
determine the presence of contagious disease, the dissection and preparation of
the body," says the registry's Brent Bardsley.
"We expect to recover between $5,000 and $6,000 per cadaver - either in its
entirety or after the body has been divided," he says.
Fees are about 10% over and above the costs to enable the company to expand
into on-site surgical training, where the public has a chance to visit the
laboratory.
The company will also cremate unwanted parts afterwards at no cost to the
family.
"We provide a portion of the remains back to the family within four weeks
following the donation - these represent the body parts not used for research.
Universities and medical centres may take up to two years," Mr Bardsley says.
HUMAN TISSUE ACT (UK 2004)
He dismisses any suggestions that his trade might be ghoulish or unsavoury.
"If you are injured, you expect to go to hospital and get the best care," he
says.
"People take for granted how their surgeon became experienced to provide that
good care. They would not be able to do it without cadaver donations," he
explains.
"We maintain control of the dissemination of the tissues," he adds, "and we
have to maintain that trust, otherwise people won't give us these gifts."
Body snatchers
Historically, physicians turned a blind eye towards the source of the bodies
they acquired.
Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical
purposes in the UK were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts.
But such sentences did not provide enough subjects for the medical and private
anatomical schools and by the 19th Century, only about 55 people were being
sentenced to capital punishment each year.
With the expansion of medical schools, however, 500 cadavers a year were
needed.
The medical profession therefore turned to body snatching to supply the deficit
of bodies fresh enough to be examined.
During 1827 and 1828 in Edinburgh, William Burke and William Hare changed their
tactics from grave-robbing to murder, because they were paid more for very
fresh corpses.
Their activities, and those of grave robbers in London who imitated them,
resulted in the passage of the Anatomy Act 1832.
This allowed unclaimed bodies and those donated by relatives to be used for the
study of anatomy, and required the licensing of anatomy teachers - thus
essentially ending the body-snatching trade.