Body donation

"Even in death do we serve life": Inscription on a communal grave dedicated to body donors

Body donation, anatomical donation, or body bequest is the donation of a whole body after death for research and education. Donated bodies are mostly used for medical education and research. They are used for gross anatomy, surgical anatomy, and for furthering medical education. For years, only medical schools accepted bodies for donation, but now private programs also accept donors. Depending on the programs need for body donation, some programs accept donors with different specifications.

Body donation is important for understanding the human body and for making advancements in science. Medical schools use whole embalmed bodies to teach anatomy to medical students. There is no cost to donating a body to science; the donation program will often provide a stipend and/or cover the cost of cremation or burial once the cadaver has served its purpose and is returned to the family for interment. Any person wishing to donate their body may do so through a willed body program. They may be required, but not always, to make prior arrangements with the local medical school, university, or body donation program before death. Individuals may request a consent form and will be supplied information about policies and procedures that will take place after the potential donor is deceased.

Body donation is still relatively low, therefore in attempts to increase these donations, many countries have different programs and differing regulations surrounding the donation of the body or body parts. In the United States a person must make the decision to donate their remains themselves prior to death, the decision cannot be made by a power of attorney. If a person decides not to donate their whole body, or they are unable to, there are other forms of donation in which one can contribute their body to science after death. These include: organ donation and tissue donation.

United Kingdom

Body donation in the UK is governed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) under the auspices of the Human Tissue Act 2004. The HTA licenses and inspects establishments, such as medical schools, which teach anatomy using donated bodies. Under the Human Tissue Act, written consent must be given prior to death; consent cannot be given by anyone else after death. The minimum age to consent to donate your body in the UK is 17.

The Human Tissue Authority provides information to donors about where they can donate and answers many prevalent questions related to tissue donation on their website. The Human Tissue Authority provides the links to each establishment’s information, but each establishment has its own guidelines for body donation. The HTA also provides the tools to find donation sites local to the person wishing to donate their body, or tissues.

Although most establishments accept most donations. Donors who have had an autopsy may be declined from a program. Certain programs also may decline donor’s bodies if they have died abroad.

United States

Only the legal next-of-kin of the deceased can provide the necessary consent for donation if the donor did not provide it to the specific accepting program prior to death.

Body donation is not regulated through licensure and inspection by the federal government and most states, however, United States House Bill 5318 was introduced on July 31, 2014 under the Energy and Commerce Committee. If passed as written, Health and Human Services would oversee the industry. Any entity (including US Medical Schools) are subject to this legislation if tissue crosses state lines.

The legal right for an individual to choose body donation is governed by the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act which has been largely adopted by most states. Laws relating to the transportation and disposition of human bodies currently apply, regardless of the recent House Bill introduced.

The American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) provides accreditation to non-transplant tissue bank research and education programs to establish that the level of medical, technical and administrative performance meets or exceeds the standards set by the AATB. Whole body donation and non-transplant tissue banking remains an industry with limited regulation, and while it is not a legal requirement, accreditation allows for individuals choosing to donate their body to medical research or education programs to choose a program with the highest quality standards.

The American Medical Education and Research Association (AMERA) is a peer-recognized national accrediting body in the United States to provide accreditation to organizations using standards developed solely for non-transplant organizations. This includes whole body donor organizations, university anatomical programs, bio-repository programs and end users of human tissue. AMERA encourages the industry to become accredited and involved in establishing standards that are relevant to non-clinical tissue organizations.

Many medical programs in the United States now hold student-led memorial services for the donated bodies. This is to show respect for the donors and their families, and to shine a positive light on the process of body donation.

There are many private body donation programs in the US. Each of these private programs accepts bodies from certain surrounding areas and has different ways of compensating families for the donation. Most programs also have guidelines for bodies they will and will not accept. Generally programs will not accept bodies that are positive for Hepatitis (A, B, and C), HIV/AIDS, history of illegal drug use, or fall within an extreme category for their BMI. The embalming process adds even more weight to the donor's body, so if they have a high BMI the programs may not take them because they cannot handle the weight of the donor after embalming. If a donor has a specific disease prior to death, which is not contagious, and would like to be a part of a program’s study they may contact that research program specifically.

Body Donation Programs

Below are links to various programs in the United States. Each link explains its program specifically and has resources to answer question pertaining to that program:

1.     Harvard Medical School Anatomical Gift Program [1]

2.     Stanford University Willed Body Donation Program [2]

3.     University of California, San Francisco Willed Body Program [3]

4.     Drexel University College of Medicine, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM),Penn State College of Medicine (Hershey),Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM),Temple University, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, The Commonwealth Medical College, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and The University of Pittsburgh [4]

5.     The University of Michigan Anatomical Donation Program [5]

6.     The University of North Carolina School of Medicine [6]

7.     Yale School of Medicine Body Donation Program [7]

8.     Loyola University of Chicago, Midwestern University, National University of Health Sciences, Northwestern University, Rush Medical College, Southern Illinois University, The University of Chicago, and The University of Illinois [8]

9.     Baylor College of Medicine Willed Body Program [9]

10. Ohio State University Body Donor Program [10]

India

In 1948 the Anatomy Act was passed in all of India’s states. This allows bodies to be donated by the donor and bodies to be claimed for medical and research use if there is no claim to one’s body within a 48 hour time frame. Similar to the US, India also has specific guidelines for accepting bodies for donations. Donations that are not deemed suitable include bodies with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis (A, B, and C), donated organs, extreme BMI, or skin diseases.

Some leaders donated their body for medical research like communist leader Jyoti Basu and Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh. Nowadays, many people in India donate their bodies after death by signing a pledge form with two accompanying witness signatures.

As a very religious part of the world, India’s religions show support for body donation. Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian religions all support the idea of body donation and or organ donation for the betterment of the world. The support of these religions is critical in this part of the world because of how many people are active in practicing their religion.

Karnataka

The earlier Mysore Anatomy Act' now Karnataka Anatomy Act 1957, amended 2001¹¹ has also eased the legalities & difficulties towards body donation & procuring cadavers which is a principal teaching tool for anatomists and medical educators teaching gross anatomy, there by reducing the shortage of cadavers in medical college which gives a practical, real feel, hands on experience for students & dissectors thus reducing the pitch for virtual dissection. Act has led to promote body donation programs & increasing awareness among the general public in their surrounding districts.

The body donation program has encouraged public to donate bodies after death of their beloved ones for the cause of science & society, or register as prospective donors so the nearest/ legal heirs would donate after death, respectable transportation and receipt of the dead bodies. The program is run by various medical colleges of Karnataka, spreading awareness & promote attitude towards body donation, it has not only encouraged body donation also various organ donations.

Hassan

Anatomy department maintains the body donation registry at Hassan Institute of medical sciences, the prospective donor can avail the application form/ Consent form / No objection form. Duly filled form should be submitted along with the relevant ID documents. Donor ID card is issued.

Motives behind the decision

The decision to become a body donor is influenced by factors such as: social awareness, cultural attitudes and perceptions of body donation, cultural attitudes and perceptions of death, religion, and perceptions of the body-mind relationship. Studies indicate most donors are primarily driven by altruism and their desire to aid the advancement of medical knowledge and to be useful after death. Other reasons include helping future generations, expressing gratitude for life and good health or for the medical field, to avoid a funeral or to avoid waste.

The offering of financial incentives as a way to increase donor numbers or as an acknowledgement for donors is generally considered to detract from the act of donation and serve as a deterrent. However, a US study showing a positive correlation between body donation numbers and funeral cover cost savings offered as compensation suggests that, in reality, the added incentive could be a persuasive factor for donors.

Use of Donors

Many of the bodies donated to any organization are used for scientific research and medical training. Many bodies are used to teach medical students anatomy, but they are also used to improve and create new medical technologies. Many programs that accept body donations have specific research affiliations, these can be viewed by looking at each programs website. These can include cancer research, Alzheimer’s research, and research into improving surgeries.

Listed below are examples of research conducted with donated bodies :

• Arthritis
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Knee/ Hip/Shoulder Replacement
• Paramedic training
• Tumor Removal
• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Treatment of Spinal disorders
• Neurological Conditions

Some programs accept whole bodies, but distribute different body parts based on need. This ensures a maximum benefit from donation. These programs can assist with research as shown above, technical training, or improvement/research of medical devices.

External links

• List of Body Donation Programs in the United States
• List of both academic and non-academic body donation programs with detailed info for academic ones
• List of AATB Accredited Non-Transplant Tissue Banks and Whole Body Programs