Controversy in the United States after a public autopsy at $ 500 instead

A public autopsy demonstration on the body of a 98-year-old man - who died of Covid-19 - organized in Portland (Oregon, in the northwest of the United States) is controversial in the country.

The organizers were asking spectators $ 500 to attend the session performed live by a retired anatomist from the reception hall of a large hotel.

70 spectators attended.

During the hour-long demonstration, Dr Colin Henderson removed the deceased's organs, including his brain, explaining the different stages of the procedure he performed throughout his career, according to local King 5 television station. On the channel's footage, some spectators can be seen donning surgical gloves before handling the corpse.

“It was very educational,” a spectator, Monica, said on this television, judging that “everything was done with respect for the person who gave her body”.

According to King 5, the family of the deceased, David Saunders, had not however been informed that the body bequeathed to science would be used for this kind of paid exhibition.

The family did not know the deceased would be dissected in public

The event was organized by Death Science, which promotes itself as “an independent education platform”.

Tickets for that day of October 17 in Portland announced "a forensic autopsy on a complete corpse."

Was to follow an "anatomical dissection which will offer (it) a unique look at what is under our skin, in our body and how it all works together".

“Access to the corpse before, after and during breaks,” the program promised.

Death Science founder Jeremy Ciliberto said in a statement that the event aimed to "create an educational experience for people who want to learn more about human anatomy."

The body was provided by Med Ed Labs, a Las Vegas-based company which, according to its website, collects bodies donated to science.

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According to King 5, who cites the Louisiana funeral directors who took charge of David Saunders' body after his death, the family believed it would be used for medical research.

Jeremy Ciliberto assured that he was not informed of any agreements between the family and the Med Ed Labs company.

The latter had told him "that the corpse had been given for scientific, medical and educational purposes", he assures us.

"We have received permission (from the family) to use the donor for medical, scientific and anatomical training and education," confirmed Med Ed Labs official Obteen Nassiri.

But "we had no idea at all" that David Saunders' dissection would take place as part of such a public, paid event, and not for students or medical professionals, he said.

Med Ed Labs would never have provided a body "if we had known" and will no longer work with Death Science, he said.

Obteen said he spoke to the family of the deceased and "we will assume full responsibility and costs for the return of the body to its family and its cremation."