Healthcare
FDA Warns Against Tainted Human Body Parts
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration threatens recall after bacteria and contaminants were found in human tissue products made by a top supplier to hospitals in the U.S. and around the world.
An ICIJ Investigation
Skin and Bone
Recycling dead humans into medical implants is a lucrative trade, rousing concerns about how tissues are obtained.
Part two
Body Brokers Leave Trail of Questions, Corruption
By Kate Willson
Jul 17, 2012
Healthcare
Video: Skin and Bone
By Kimberley Porteous
Jul 16, 2012
- Consent: There have been repeated allegations in Ukraine that human tissue was removed from the dead without proper consent. Some of that tissue may have reached other countries, via Germany, and may now be implanted in hospital patients.
- Safety: Surgeons are not always required to tell patients they are receiving products made of human tissue, making it less likely a patient would associate subsequent infection with that product.
- Tracking: The U.S. is the world's biggest trader of products from human tissue, but authorities there don’t seem to know how much tissue is imported, where it comes from, or where it subsequently goes.
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