Sometimes researchers don't even tell families they are taking parts from their loved ones' bodies. Since 1990, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office has removed parts from hundreds of accident and homicide victims without consent. The coroner gave those parts to researchers. When some families found out, they felt violated and angry. One of the researchers, Russell Sherwin of the University of Southern California, used to ask permission from donor families, he said.
Most researchers rely on donations.
Willed-body programs based at medical schools collect about 15,000 bodies annually. Private agencies, such as the Maryland-based Anatomic Gift Foundation , supply an additional 2,500 cadavers a year to academic and commercial researchers. N.J. Employees at two universities allegedly sold donated bodies or body parts to researchers without authorization. University of California, Irvine, fired the director of its willed-body program, Christopher S. Brown, in September for selling seven donated spines to a Phoenix researcher. The Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating.