Scandal of corpses in Paris-Descartes: new rules on the donation of bodies to science

It is a scandal that has moved the lines.

Collection of consent, creation of an ethics committee: this Thursday, a decree published in the Official Journal specifies the conditions for donating bodies to science in application of the bioethics law, as the government had committed to after the scandal at Paris-Descartes University.

After having received documentation from the establishment authorized to receive bodies, the person can consent to this donation "by a written declaration in full, dated and signed by his hand", indicates the decree, which comes into force this Friday.

The text also specifies the methods for transporting and receiving the bodies, the conditions for carrying out funeral operations, returning the body or the ashes and the conditions for authorization and operation of the establishments benefiting from the donations.

A promise after the scandal at Paris-Descartes

It also provides for the establishment within these establishments of an "ethical, scientific and educational committee responsible for issuing an opinion on training programs and research projects requiring the use of bodies with is the subject of a donation.

The government announced last year that the regulations on body donation centers for science would be overhauled as part of the bioethics bill – adopted in June 2021 – following the Paris-Descartes scandal.

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In 2019, the weekly L'Express revealed that the body donation center of this university had received in "indecent conditions" the remains of "thousands of people" who donated their bodies to science.

The investigation opened thereafter had brought to light the "inertia" of officials of the prestigious Parisian institution for several decades.

These revelations led to four indictments last year, including those of the Parisian university and its former president for "harming the integrity of a corpse".