8 changes following NBC News' reporting on unclaimed bodies used for medical research
NBC News’ investigation into the University of North Texas Health Science Center's use of unclaimed bodies led to significant changes even before the first article ran.
This article is part of “Dealing the Dead,” a series investigating the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.
The revelation that a Texas medical school was routinely dissecting the bodies of unclaimed people and leasing them out to for-profit medical device companies for training and research drew a rapid and far-reaching response.
NBC News’ investigation into the University of North Texas Health Science Center led to changes even before the first article ran, with the center announcing in response to the reporters’ findings that it was suspending its body donation program and firing the officials who led it. Medical technology companies that had received unclaimed bodies from the center also pre-emptively said they were changing policies or re-evaluating their work with the program.
When the first part of the investigation was published online and aired on NBC’s “Nightly News with Lester Holt,” elected officials at the local, state and federal level expressed alarm at what had occurred and said they would push for policy changes to prevent it from ever happening again.
After obtaining the names of hundreds of people whose unclaimed bodies were sent to the Health Science Center, reporters discovered that some families had been unaware their relatives’ bodies had been donated. To help survivors find answers, NBC News later published the names of the unclaimed dead, leading several more families to come forward, aghast at what they learned but grateful to finally know the truth.
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