Posted on 01/26/2008 10:48:27 AM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(SACRAMENTO) -- Cars packed the parking lot of a shuttered CompUSA store one recent weekday afternoon as schoolchildren, health professionals and the just plain curious paid $24 apiece to stare at a score of plasticized, dissected human cadavers and roomfuls of preserved body parts.
The cadavers are displayed dramatically, with layers of skin and muscle peeled back to reveal internal organs, bones, blood vessels and nerves. The exhibition, with bodies posed as if playing a violin, swinging a golf club or performing other tasks, provoked plenty of hushed comments. "Where do they come from?" a young woman asked a guide dressed in a white lab coat.
"They're elderly Chinese men who donated their bodies," the docent said.
Now, California lawmakers are asking similar questions about the traveling exhibits of so-called plastinated bodies. On Thursday the state Assembly voted 50 to 4 to approve legislation to ensure that the people whose remains are on display consented to be gawked at by the public. The bill next goes to the Senate.
"Although plastination was intended to advance medicine and science, many entrepreneurs are using plastination to make outrageous profits by dissecting, mutilating and parading unwilled bodies around the world and in our state," the bill's sponsor, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), said during Assembly debate. "Asking for consent and verification is not too much to ask."
The two major anatomy exhibitors are divided on the legislation. Industry pioneer Body Worlds said it has no problem providing donor documentation. The other exhibitor, Premier Exhibitions Inc., which operates the Sacramento show, said it obtained all the remains legally from Chinese medical and scientific organizations but does not know the identities of the donors.
Ma, a Chinese American, said she became concerned about the use of Chinese remains after viewing a 2005 anatomy exhibition......
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I know that there is a high need for cadavers for medical research. They can be expensive and hard to get. They are important for medical students, and general biology studies. I don’t know much about the controversy on where the bodies were obtained. If they were obtained under adverse circumstances, that is certainly wrong. If someone consents to donate their body to medical research, then I don’t see a problem with it being used in this manner. You can’t identify the people, and there is plenty of educational value in it, from young kids to medical students.
They’re having an exhibit of this type in San Antonio at the Witte Museum. From what I could tell about the bodies they showed on the 10pm news, they all appeared to be young asian men.
Looking at the teeth in your one pic, I would say that was no old geezer.
Obviously, you haven’t seen this exhibit if you are equating it to a lampshade made from someone’s skin. Like I said, if someone didn’t consent to this, then their bodies shouldn’t be used. In the exhibit that I saw, the bodies were donated to a medical school here in the US.
The exhibit is fascinating, and educational, but I wouldn’t call it entertainment. It creates an appreciation for life, and our bodies. You are able to view things that keep everyone alive and healthy, that you never even think about. The human body is a beautiful and amazing thing. Yet, many have no appreciation for how intricate and detailed it is. I can think of no reason why a human body which is dead, should not be displayed, if proper consent is obtained. What better way is there to appreciate the gift of life, than seeing a human body in all of its perfection?
We saw the "Body Worlds" exhibition at the California Science Center in Los Angeles in 2005. I didn't really want to go, but my stepson (who lives in LA) wanted to see it. The exhibit was VERY crowded.
I have to admit it was fascinating, especially when we happened to overhear a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional explaining a particular function of the body (while pointing out the specific body part) to his/her friends at the exhibit.
What I didn't like were the roving groups of school kids constantly snickering and exclaiming "Ewww! Ewww!" This exhibit is only for "children" who are VERY mature, IMHO.
There was a sign at the start of the exhibit in which the German creator (forgot his name) stated that the subjects of Body World left their bodies to science, knowing full well what they would be used for, and that he intended to treat each body with dignity, etc.
I kept looking at that sign, and wondered if it was true... it haunted me whether or not these human beings really knew exactly how their bodies would be displayed after their death.
I've seen hundreds of exhibits at science museums. This exhibit I'll remember the rest of my life, however...
“All bleeding eventually stops
B)All patients eventually die
C)If you drop the baby, then pick it up.”
LOL. Today, my personal favorite EMS law is that the weight of a patient is directly proportional to the distance from the transport vehicle, and number of stairs required to remove him/her. Last night we had a 600 pounder at the end of a 5th floor hallway. No elevator. Never fails.
I agree. Other than for quite advanced biology or medical students, any educational value these exhibits might have is outweighed by the likelihood that they will desensitize viewers to dissected dead bodies and/or cause nightmares and other psychological disturbances and/or stimulate mentally disturbed viewers’ interest in doing sadistic things to living people and animals.
They have voted in every election for 80 years. /sarcm
Thanks for the ping. The exhibit is currently in the Tampa Bay area. My hairdresser said she thought about me when she heard about the exhibit. LOL.
The guy who adapts segway/wheelchair technology to a gurney for going down stairs is gonna make a fortune.
I live in NYC and have seen EMS guys do amazing things.
I read at the Body Worlds display in Houston that they injected plasti into the blood vessels, then let ants remove the soft tissues.
I read at the Body Worlds display in Houston that they injected plastic into the blood vessels, then let ants remove the soft tissues.
anyone, it seems to me, that’s been to even a few code blues knows how hard it is to retain that sense of awe at the moment time stops for an individual.
The way my aunts work through a pork chop, I believe it.
Except that the body is not the person.
Why does learning how the human body functions lead to nightmares, cause psychological disturbances or lead to sadistic behavior? Do law enforcement officers become criminals because they are desensitized to the criminal world?
Why do so many fear of the human body? We all have them. Shouldn’t we learn to respect and care for them properly? Doesn’t understanding how they work provide value?
I wouldn’t take a child under 10 or 12 to the exhibit, because they might not be mature enough to understand it. But, I wouldn’t let them watch scary movies either. It is very interesting and perfectly appropriate for anyone older than that.
If you had actually seen the exhibit, I imagine that you would realize that this exhibit is a valuable educational tool, that might inspire many young people to go into medical or scientific fields. At the very least you would realize that it wouldn’t turn them into potential serial killers, or psychologically unstable citizens.
Why do so many fear of the human body? We all have them
This is where some wise-acre says, “Yeah, I’ve got three in my basement.”
Does the attitude of some on this thread really surprise you? We live in a country where more people know what Paris Hilton’s genitals look like than what their own pancreas does.
Sick. I would never let my kids go there.
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