home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- lcanimal@ix.netcom.com
- http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/ahimsa/lca
-
-
- ----__ListProc__NextPart____AR-NEWS__digest_216
-
- Date: Mon, 04 Nov 1996 14:11:38 +0000
- >From: Lawrence Carter-Long <SdeCAP@arc.unm.edu>
- To: ar-news@envirolink.org
- Subject: Newswire: UCLA Burns Human Remains With "Lab" Animals (US)
- Message-ID: <327DF99A.4F41@arc.unm.edu>
- MIME-Version: 1.0
- Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
- Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
-
- UCLA Accused Of Dumping Bodies
-
- Source: Associated Press
-
- LOS ANGELES
-
- When Robert Bennett Jr.'s mother Lorraine died of cancer in 1992, her body was
- donated to the
- UCLA medical school. The school promised to give the 61-year-old a decent
- burial, but instead
- Bennett says his mother's remains ended up in the trash.
-
- - She wasn't the only one, according to lawsuits.
-
- - As many as 18,000 bodies donated for research were wrongfully cremated
- with dead lab animals
- and fetuses, the ashes dumped in trash bins, lawsuits against the University
- of California at Los
- Angeles charge.
-
- - ``How would people at UCLA feel if their parents were treated as if they
- were garbage or
- something?'' Bennett said.
-
- - James G. Terwilliger, vice provost for administration at the UCLA School
- of Medicine, apologized
- for mistreatment of the bodies. He said UCLA has taken ``aggressive steps'' to
- correct the
- problems, including closing its crematorium.
-
- - The bodies were donated to the medical school to train students from the
- 1950s to at least
- November 1993, according to the lawsuits filed Thursday by the families of two
- victims.
-
- - Lawyers Raymond P. Boucher and Mickel M. Arias filed a class-action
- lawsuit in Santa Monica on
- behalf of Robert Bennett.
-
- - In a separate lawsuit filed Thursday, the family of Annie Fisher, who also
- died of cancer, accused
- the school's department of anatomy of treating her body and thousands of
- others with disrespect.
-
- - Terwilliger declined to comment on the specific allegations in the
- lawsuits, saying university
- lawyers had not yet reviewed them. He acknowledged a history of problems with
- the disposal of
- some donors to the Willed Body Program, but said they have been rectified.
-
- - ``Today we are running a strong and well-run program,'' Terwilliger said.
- ``People should feel very comfortable that if they're inclined to consider this as an option ... that
- people will be treated with compassion.''
-
- - The problems surfaced three years ago when a contractor hired to dispose
- of 630 pounds of
- human ashes was loading boxes onto a boat.
-
- - One of the boxes burst open, revealing broken syringe parts, glass vials,
- used gauze and a
- rubber glove along with the ashes. He reported his findings to state health
- officials.
-
- - Bennett's lawsuit claims breach of contract, negligence, fraud and other
- charges against the
- Regents of the University of California, the School of Medicine, the director
- of the department of
- anatomy and two other employees.
-
- - It wasn't clear what damages the plaintiffs sought.
-
- - Medical students rely on a supply of cadavers for their training,
- Terwilliger said. He wasn't sure
- how many bodies are donated each year, but said a drop-off would hurt the
- program.
-
- - ``It would certainly make it difficult for us to continue with our
- educational mission,'' he said.
- ``Human remains are very critical piece'' of students' training, he said.
-
- [11-02-96 at 20:28 EST, Copyright 1996, The Associated Press]
-
- ----__ListProc__NextPart____AR-NEWS__digest_216
-
- Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 16:59:43 -0500 (EST)
- >From: allen schubert <alathome@clark.net>
- To: ar-news@envirolink.org
- Subject: (ZA) Conservationists propose horn trade to cut poaching
- Message-ID: <199611042159.QAA02706@mail.clark.net>
- Mime-Version: 1.0
- Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
-
-