'Shocked' members of Congress from Texas seek answers on unclaimed bodies used for research
Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Marc Veasey expressed “grave concerns” in response to an NBC News investigation into the University of North Texas’ body donation program.
This article is part of “Dealing the Dead,” a series investigating the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.
Two members of Congress are pressing officials for answers after NBC News exposed failures to notify relatives of dead people whose bodies were used for medical research. The politicians also asked about compensation for those families.
Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Marc Veasey, both Democrats from Texas, made the requests Wednesday in a letter to medical examiners in Dallas and Tarrant counties, citing an NBC News investigation that found the counties had provided hundreds of unclaimed bodies to the University of North Texas Health Science Center without obtaining consent from the deceased or their next of kin. The center dissected many of those bodies and leased out the parts for use by other medical schools, for-profit research companies and the Army.
Reps. Marc Veasey and Jasmine Crockett gave counties a Nov. 30 deadline to explain failures in their death notification systems.Getty ImagesReporters found numerous cases in which family members were reachable but never contacted — and were later horrified to learn from reporters what had happened to their relatives’ bodies.
Crockett and Veasey, who each represent parts of Dallas and Tarrant counties, said they were “shocked” that the unclaimed bodies included veterans who are entitled to federal benefits that cover military funerals. They noted a state law that requires death investigators to file affidavits stating that they have made a “diligent inquiry” to find a dead person’s family.
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