Body Parts Harvested in N.C. Recalled

CBS New/AP ^ | 8-23-06 | Seth Borenstein/Marilynn Marchione

[STARWISE]

A leading medical firm has quietly recalled hundreds of human tissue products destined for transplants around the nation that were supplied by a North Carolina body parts broker believed to have a tainted history.

The broker used an unsterile embalming room to carve up dozens of corpses to procure tissue, a Raleigh funeral home director said Tuesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration shut down the body broker on Friday, but refuses to say how many people may have received potentially risky tissue.

It is the second scandal in less than a year in the booming tissue transplant industry. Cadaver tissue is used in more than a million transplants each year in such routine operations as back surgery and knee repairs. While such donated tissue does tremendous good, it is also little regulated, a three-month Associated Press investigation found earlier this year.

Improperly processed or poorly tested tissue can lead to infections like hepatitis or AIDS or even death. Last year a scandal unfolded around Biomedical Tissue Services, a New Jersey company accused of using stolen bodies and of shipping nearly 20,000 potentially tainted body parts.

Federal authorities kept the North Carolina episode quiet until late last Friday, when the FDA shut down Donor Referral Services of Raleigh, N.C. The FDA said the company, run by Philip Guyett, had "serious deficiencies" in its processing, donor screening and record-keeping. The government accused him of altering records to overlook such problems as cancer or drug use by the deceased donor.

But on July 6 the tissue provider, AlloSource of Centennial, Colo., began its own recall of about 300 Guyett-provided transplant parts that went to a company it had acquired, an AlloSource spokeswoman said Tuesday.

[STARWISE]

The FDA won't say how many potentially tainted body parts might have made it to hospitals for transplant. But two companies doing business with Guyett told The Associated Press Tuesday that they know of at least 60 bodies cut up and at least 300 body parts that were recalled. And those firms were not the only business associates that Guyett had, they said.

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Gruesome. Sorry, breakfasters.

[STARWISE]

Ping

[tutstar]

lovely

[Psalm 73]

"...an unsterile embalming room to carve up dozens of corpses to procure tissue..."

Hmmm, an interesting sentence - conjuures up thoughts of the old "Creature Feature"

[STARWISE]

That's why I've only ever wanted to donate eyes, kidney, heart, liver, lungs .. organs other than skin and bone. ((shiver)).

[justche]

Really gross - I had no idea they could "recall" tissues though.

[Erasmus]

Really gross - I had no idea they could "recall" tissues though.

It coulda been worse. I was expecting to read that they were recalling the parts that had already been installed.

[justche]

is that possible?

[Tijeras_Slim]

WTFIIWNC?

[Toby06]

I wanna pair of them nice big headlights, preferably with high beams

[M1Tanker]

What does one even say when confronted with this story? I can just imagine the prosecutor and investigators in this describing what went on to a jury. I wonder if the court will allow recesses for throwing up?

I have to hope these were not parts which were installed (yes, hope is not a method). I hope they were parts for study. If not, the legal costs for this company and the hospitals which performed the organ transplants will be in the $100s of millions.

Can anyone imagine what a person who has a "new" kidney/heart/lung/etc from this company must be feeling right now?

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Will the FDA provide a loaner to those in the recall?

[Tijeras_Slim]

I wanna pair of them nice big headlights, preferably with high beams

OK

[PsyOp]

That's why you have to stick with OEM. You never know what's up with the aftermarket stuff...

[STARWISE]

LOL ..

[RJS1950]

That is interesting. I caught a recently aired episode of the TV show BONES where the FBI team tracked down an infection from a transplant that came from a tainted funeral home operation similar to this. Art sometimes does imitate real life.

[Constitution Day]

LOL!!

[Constitution Day]

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day, TaxRelief OR Alia if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[Carolinamom]

Even the name "body broker" is offensive to me.

[Vinnie]

The TV show 'Bones' had a related episode.

A sleazy 'parts house' sent out bone pieces tainted with leukemia.
Most on the recipients contracted the disease.

Really gruesome stuff.