UCI: Scandal-Marred School to Cremate Unidentified Cadavers
In the latest chapter of the University of California-Irvine cadaver scandal, the school will cremate four donated bodies it could not identify, the Orange County Register reports. UCI spokesperson Karen Young said, "The four couldn't be identified by any means, including DNA testing, assistance from [the] county District Attorney's Office and the use of forensic dentists." The UCI program stopped taking donations in August 1999 after the school suspended and subsequently fired mortician Christopher Brown for allegedly selling donated body parts (Heisel, 8/19). Meanwhile, with UCI's records in "disarray," families "were left to wonder whether their parents, grandparents and spouses were used to teach anatomy or make a quick buck." However, Iris Ingram, the university's associate dean of administration, told families that UCI will continue attempts to identify the bodies, although she declined to give specific details. Ingram said, "We told the families what we have done and that we will continue to do everything we know how to do." She added, "We are cremating the bodies, but that has nothing to do with the identification process." To date, about a dozen families have sued the school for breech of contract and other violations (Heisel, Orange County Register, 8/19).
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