Team 7 Investigation: King County Trades Human Brains For Money

[icymist]

Team 7 Investigation: King County Trades Human Brains For Money
Chris Halsne
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter


POSTED: 1:01 pm PST March 31, 2005
UPDATED: 10:56 am PST April 1, 2005

SEATTLE -- The King County Medical Examiner's Office has been harvesting brains from the corpses of mentally ill clients and quietly trading the tissue for money, KIRO Team 7 Investigators reported.

In the past seven years, the medical examiner's office received more than $1 million for collecting brains of people with schizophrenia.

In return for the money, county pathologists shipped at least 180 brains to a private research facility.

A Team 7 Investigation raises serious questions about consent: Why didn't next of kin know about the financial arrangement?

(More)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/4335506/detail.html

[Zuni]

1. awesome

Who buys them, Zell Miller?

[leftofcool]

4. Naw.................

If Zell bought a a schitzo brain he'd be smarter.

Left of Cool

[_testify_]

2. that's so ghoulish its borderline cool! n/t

[icymist]

3. This is a government agency asking for 'samples', but taking the

entire organ for profit!

From the article:
"It was my feeling that they were maybe going to run some tests on his brain tissue," said Vicki Hendricks.

Hendricks's son Jim died suddenly at 36 years old. She gave permission for King County to take brain "samples" thinking they needed them to determine cause of death. Jim's whole brain instead ended up at Stanley Medical.

[GHOSTDANCER]

32. Wonder if they are removing evidence? Evidence of maybe mad cow or worse?

I recall a talk show discussing patients being labeled with having Alzheimer's but not enough test were done and could likely be caused by mad cow.
<>

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. "The name was Abby something."

"Abby... Normal."

[The Doctor.]

14. Did anyone else notice one of the victims was

"Jimmy Hendricks"?

[icymist]

19. And your point is?

Too close to Jimi Hendrix to be for real? This story has been going on for a good long time, at least ten years. Today, it has come to light just everything that has been going on. I always thought that you Republicans would love this kind of news from heavily Democratic King County.

[The Doctor.]

21. HA ha ha!

Lol!

This story, whether true or not, is absolutely outrageous.

I simply pointed out an interesting name.

And that... was the point.

"you Democrats" are always trying to pick a fight - aren't you?

lol!

[icymist]

22. I'm not looking to fight with you Dr. Eldritch.

On the contrary. I have nothing but respect for a Republican that has more than 1000 posts on the DU.

[The Doctor.]

23. It was a joke.

:toast:

[icymist]

24. LOL!

:toast:

[icymist]

6. More from this article:

"Under the Open Records Act, KIRO Team 7 Investigators asked King County for documents surrounding what's known around the morgue as "The Stanley Project."

Contracts vary a little each year, but the one in 2003 said "the KCME will try to collect a minimum of 50 specimens." For those efforts, Stanley sent big monthly checks to the medical examiner's office -- far exceeding the true costs of removing and shipping brains."

If a funeral home did something like this there would be outrage. Why is it Okay for the KCME?

[Trillo]

7. "Why didn't next of kin know about the financial arrangement?"

Probably because it would be "inconvienent" and lead to "resentment" if people knew that they aren't allowed to sell organs (even after death), but rulers are allowed that convienience. Hush--wink wink.

[icymist]

8. One phrase: Abuse of the public trust.

n/t

[montana_hazeleyes]

9. That phrase is perfect.

This whole thing is disgusting.

[truthisfreedom]

10. heh. i thought this was about a think tank.

8^)

[Fridays Child]

11. That's a lie. They're feeding them to Condi Rice.

[The Doctor.]

12. LOL! While I COULD believe this...

I'm always skeptical of the outrageous on THIS particular day of the year.

Did y'all fergit what day it is?

I'll lay $20 that this is BS

[Sanity Claws]

13. It's not an April Fools joke

I heard about the story earlier in the week. You know the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction.

[The Doctor.]

17. Indeed it is...

(truth being stranger than fiction... that is)

So where did you hear about this first?

[Sanity Claws]

20. Local television news last night

I live in Seattle and saw the story when I was flipping stations last night.

[icymist]

16. I don't think so.

I'm also listening to 710KIRO radio (not afiliated with KIRO TV) about this subject and the KCME office has refused to comment on this. They say this has been going on since 1994. 710KIRO is now on the web: http://www.kiro710.com/
Listen for yourself.

[Beetwasher]

15. MMMMM Brains....Must Eat Brains...MMMMM

n/t

[coffeenap]

25. TICK!

[maxsolomon]

18. well if any city has surplus schizophrenic brains, this is the one.

when life gives you lemons...

[ConcernedCanuk]

26. Makes one wonder, . . REALLY wonder , ,

.
.
.

From the posted Article:

. . . the medical examiner's office received more than $1 million for collecting brains of people with schizophrenia.

In return for the money, county pathologists shipped at least 180 brains to a private research facility.

/snip/

He also said the money exchanged was a "grant," not a payment made per brain, and that there were no "quotas" for brains, just "goals."

__________________________________________

lets make it 200 brains, just to make it easy math

that's $5,000.00 a brain

I'd say that's too much of an incentive for someone to decide to "let 'em die"

I ain't too comfortable with THAT!

and if MY dead brain was worth 5 grand,

I think I'd rather have my next of kin or a good friend get the $$

this article makes me wonder

are they selling/harvesting the REST of the body parts somewhere also?

I mean, the body is already is "on the table"

The doc is already there and scrubbed

"hey - wonder what we could get for THIS!"

This article is REALLY disturbing!

[icymist]

27. Families Say They Never Gave Consent To Harvest Brains (Update)

Families Say They Never Gave Consent To Harvest Brains
Chris Halsne
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter


POSTED: 3:48 pm PST April 1, 2005
UPDATED: 6:54 pm PST April 1, 2005

SEATTLE -- More grieving families stepped forward on Friday with accusations that the King County Medical Examiner's Office sold brains for profit without getting consent.

Thursday night, KIRO Team 7 Investigators first exposed how King County shipped about 180 brains to a private research facility out of state.

In return, it got more than $1 million.

Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne has discovered information about missing consent forms and at least one brain that should never have been harvested.

For privacy reasons, we'll call this case 98-1218. That's the label King County slapped on the file of a dead man before removing his brain and sending it to an East Coast research lab called the Stanley Institute.

The legal next of kin told KIRO Team 7 Investigators the family never knew. Nobody ever asked to take the brain.

(more)
http://www.kirotv.com/news/4339780/detail.html

[rodeodance]

28. If it would have embryonic tissue--the Congress would get involved quick

[icymist]

29. A little more from the new article:

<snip>
In return, the private research lab sent the county money -- lots more than the cost of processing the tissue, $1.49 million in all. That's $8,300 per brain.

<snip>
Case No. 98-1218 is the most interesting.

We tracked the case to next of kin in Florida. The family says its Jewish traditions would never allow removal of a brain. It never gave consent of any kind.

Stanley received the brain via King County anyway, according to county records and the family. The family recently retained an attorney.

[Maine-ah]

30. brains.............

brains...............brains.....:evilgrin:
sorry all I could think of are those brain-eating zombie movies.

[daleo]

31. $8300 per brain? That seems like a lot of money for a research project.

Methinks there is some other scam going on here, and the money was being invoiced through this unlikely method of "cash for brains".