September 25, 2008
State Supreme Court Unanimous: Selling Donor Brains, Not Cool
The Washington State Supreme Court issued a rare unanimous ruling this morning in a case against the King County Medical Examiner's office. The court ruled that the M.E.'s office was in the wrong when they sold a deceased 21-year-old's brain to a Maryland company. While the 21-year-old was an organ donor, his next of kin was not notified parts of his body would be sold for profit to private researchers. Also, and excuse us if we are wrong, but our assumption about checking the donor box was that our organs would go to a living individual, not a corporation. Shame on the King County M.E. for adding to a family's tragedy and profiting off it.
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I love that Part 1 of this investigative series it titled: "King County Trades Human Brains For Money." Curious about the reaction from the graverobbers' local.
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you should read stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers if you're curious about where your parts will (legally) go when they're donated to science. some really fucked-up stories, although nothing that would make me uncheck the organ donor box.
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I've read Spook and Bonk--haven't made it to Stiff yet. Mary Roach is the queen of the intersection of curiosity and fucked-up stories.
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If anyone's in the market for a brain, I'll make you a great deal. I seldom have to use mine in the job I'm working at, and I could use the extra dough.
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This story is ripe for interesting headlines - from Kiro7.com :
"King County Goes Too Far Trading Brains, Supreme Court Says"