Do you know where your bone or tissue graft came from?

I just had to blog this because I am outraged that this can happen. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am. Criminals will go to any length to make money, hurting the innocent and putting public safety at risk while they are at it.

Four individuals in New York were charged with harvesting tissue and bone from dead people who had never consented to be donors. These criminals removed bones, tendons, heart valves and other tissue from recently dead people. If the victim had not consented to be a donor then the criminals forged death certificates and organ-donor consent forms to create the appearance that the tissue was harvested legally. Not only is this a violation of the rights of the deceased but there are transplant guidelines which outline age limits and health requirements for donors. The criminals in this case falsified the ages and health information of their victims so that they would appear to qualify. For example a 95 year old cancer victim was listed as a healthy 85 year old who died of heart failure. These criminals definitely gave no thought to the victims’ families or the transplant recipients who received possibly tainted bone and tissue grafts. This case involved several funeral homes as well as their directors and a former oral surgeon who had lost his dentist license and needed a new income stream.

These criminals are not in the business of helping the sick and dying. They don’t care how many people die while waiting on transplant lists for organs to be donated. No, they have something else in mind when they steal from the dead. It is illegal to sell such tissue or other body parts. These can only be donated by express written consent of the donor or the next of kin. The tissue, organs and bones of a healthy transplant donor can be worth upwards to $250,000 for harvesting and transplant companies. So I guess we have just discovered the motive for this crime. Let this serve as a warning. The death of a loved one is arguably one of the most strenuous times in a persons’ life. However, criminals are out their posing as the most innocent and helpful of individuals. We always have to be on the look out. Ask questions and make sure you are dealing with who you think you are dealing with.

If you have been a victim of fraud relating to transplants click on the Take Action tab and let us know. We would love to hear your story and you can see more on these types of frauds weekly on Fraud Squad TV.

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