The Great Brain Robbery by canttakesky

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The Great Brain Robbery

POSTED BY: CANTTAKESKY
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 16:26
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012 4:26 PM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224871/Medical-examiners-offi
ce-refuses-release-9-000-brains-belonging-New-Yorkers-use-experiments-practice.html

It's being called 'the great brain robbery.'

New York City's medical examiner’s office has kept the brains of more than 9,200 deceased New Yorkers — from the elderly to newborns — so newbie pathologists can practice their skills.

The discovery comes after three families publicly questioned whether or not the city is banking the brains for medical purposes.
me

New York City's medical examiner¿s office (pictured) has kept the brains of more than 9,200 deceased New Yorkers ¿ from the elderly to newborns ¿ so newbie pathologists can practice their skills.

'Vasean’s organs were removed for ‘testing’ without any investigative or medical necessity,' charges a suit by the family of Vasean Alleyne, an 11-year-old Queens boy killed by a drunken driver.

According to the New York Post, months after his burial, his mom was shocked to read in the autopsy report that her son’s brain and spinal cord had been taken.

Brooklyn mom Cindy Bradshaw was stunned to learn she had buried her stillborn son, Gianni, without his brain. The ME kept it — though an autopsy found his death was caused by an abnormality in her umbilical cord and placenta.

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'Do they really want to know what happened to the person, or are they just experimenting?' Bradshaw asked.

'The death had nothing to do with the brain,” said her lawyer, Daniel Flanzig. “It’s unconscionable — and unlawful — for the Medical Examiner not to return it to the family for a complete burial.'

Others suspect organs are used as a training tool.

'I think they collect brains to allow a new neuropathologist to practice on various body parts,' said Anthony Galante, a lawyer for the family of Jesse Shipley, 17, who was killed in a car crash in 2005.
vasean

Vasean (left) and her mother Monique Dixon. Vasean¿s organs were removed for ¿testing¿ without any investigative or medical necessity,' charges a suit by the family of Vasean Alleyne.

'When it comes to investigating deaths, the law gives the Medical Examiner’s Office broad authority, including the retention of tissue at autopsy for further testing,' a city Law Department spokeswoman told the post.

The ME declined to comment.

In November 2010, a judge ruled the city must notify families of seized organs. The ME began giving kin a form with three options: wait to claim the body pending “further testing” of organs; collect the organs later; or just let the city dispose of the organs.

The disposal method is not mentioned. But an internal ME document spells it out: 'Medical waste is incinerated. Please do not tell NOK (next-of-kin) that unclaimed organs are ‘cremated ...''

Under The Post’s Freedom of Information Law request, the ME gave a list of 9,200 brains and 45 spinal cords removed between Nov. 1, 2004, and July 1, 2012. Some 7,700 brains were taken before the notifications began.

The ages of the decedents range from 99 to fetuses.

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