How did unclaimed bodies end up with a major biotech company?
How Boston Scientific’s Relievant Medsystems came to use the unclaimed dead offers a window into the pressing demand for human bodies.
This article is part of “Dealing the Dead,” a series investigating the use of unclaimed bodies for medical research.
In August, a single email triggered a chain of hand-wringing and strategizing inside one of America’s largest medical technology companies: A reporter asked Boston Scientific if the biotech giant realized one of its subsidiaries had received bodies for medical training with no consent from the dead or their families.
Company leaders fretted about how the revelation from NBC News would look to investors and debated how or even whether to answer, according to internal emails received through a public records request. The company had acquired the specimens from a Texas medical school for trainings on an innovative back pain procedure, but officials said they hadn’t known the bodies were unclaimed.
“We didn’t do anything illegal or wrong,” Jessica Sachariason, Boston Scientific’s global corporate communications director, wrote to executives and an in-house lawyer. But she noted that NBC News’ findings posed “reputational risks” to the company if Boston Scientific didn't respond.
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