Illegally harvested body-parts scandal distresses the nation

Thousands of charges were filed against three funeral directors, two businessmen, and two companies for illegally harvesting body parts of the diseased that were supposed to be cremated. The charges included operating a criminal enterprise, theft, forgery, and buying prohibited body parts.  Michael Mastromarino, the owner of Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) – a company that illegally removed tissue from the deceased persons, was identified as the ringleader of the operation.

Kitty Caparella, Gloria Campisi and Julie Shaw, Philly: Survivors’ lives shaken in wake of body-parts scandal, philly.com, Oct. 8, 2007, report:

Carolyn Garcia, 25, of Kensington, said the remains of her stepfather, Joseph Pace, 54, had also been removed without consent. Pace had throat cancer, colitis, HIV, hepatitis C and an abdominal obstruction when he died on Jan. 25, 2005.

“I was devastated ’cause before my stepdad, my mom had cancer and I had her cremated at the same place [Liberty Crematorium],” she said. “I don’t even know if I have his remains and that bothers me.

Suits have also been filed on the civil side. According to Body-Parts Scandal: Anapol Schwartz Files Philadelphia Civil Complaint for Son of Local Woman Whose Corpse was Allegedly Illegally Harvested for Bone/Tissue Transplantation posted on PRWeb.com, multiple law suits are being filed by family members whose deceased loved ones’ tissues and bones were stolen.

You can read more on this issue on PA Elder, Estate & Fiduciary Law Blog.

Special thanks to Neil E. Hendershot, Esq. (Attorney at law, Goldberg Katzman, P.C., Adjunct Professor, Widener University School of Law) for bringing these articles to my attention.