TS Radio Network: Brokering body parts: There's money in them there bodies!

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Our guest this evening is Marcia Southwick, Director of NASGA.

Tonight we'll discuss this flourishing trade that few people know about. We'll explore individual cases of body brokering around the country and address the history of how it all started.

Each year, thousands of Americans donate their bodies believing that they are contributing to science.  In truth, however, their bodies are sold in parts for substantial profits.  Distinct from organ donations, "non-transplant tissue bank" body parts are largely unregulated. 

 A 2017 Reuters investigation revealed how easy it is to buy body parts.  A Tennessee broker sold Reuters two heads and a cervical spine after exchanging a few emails. Investigators discovered that in three years, one body broker earned over 12 million by procuring bodies and selling parts.  Many brokers use chainsaws to avoid purchasing expensive surgical saws.

Reuters found 62 funeral homes receiving kickbacks from Body Brokers. Morticians persuade poor families who can't afford funerals that donation for scientific research is the best option for their loved ones.  However, in truth, bodies are chopped up into six parts that are sold to anyone who wants them.  In Arizona, 20 bodies were used in US Army roadside bomb experiments. Families who never suspected that profits were involved only learned the truth from a Reuters reporter who obtained records.