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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Legislation targets theft of human remains |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 29 January 2006 |
By MADELAINE VITALE
January 27, 2006
A lawmaker introduced a bill Thursday that would make theft of human remains a first-degree crime.
Assemblyman Francis Bodine, R-Burlington, called the illegal harvesting of bone and tissue that has allegedly happened at New York funeral homes a gruesome act. He said those who are convicted of such thefts should be severely punished.
Since the criminal investigation began involving the New York funeral homes in October, patients in several states received calls from doctors warning them that they must be tested for diseases because the corpse bones and tissue may have come from the funeral parlors and were not properly screened.
So far in the region, 58 patients at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point and 15 at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City and Galloway Township have received such calls. Many have already filed lawsuits against the companies allegedly involved in the harvesting scheme. The hospitals have not been named in the suits.
“It's a very gory act, which affects the families of the deceased who have not approved of this taking of the tissue or the bone for the resale,†Bodine said in an interview. “I just feel that we need to come up with a punishment that is so significant that it would almost make anybody who would consider illegally harvesting corpse bones to realize the payback would not be worth it.â€
Bodine's bill makes the theft of human remains a first-degree crime that would carry a 10- to 20-year prison term and up to $250,000 in fines. The crime is now a second-degree offence that involves five- to 10-year sentences and up to $150,000 in fines.
The lawmaker said he realizes the bill will not be signed into law anytime soon, but he expects it will likely go to the Assembly Health Committee and if approved there to the full Assembly for a vote.
“I have not had anybody against me on this. I have a close friend who is a funeral director who is supportive of it,†Bodine said.
The defendants in the criminal investigation out of New York and the plaintiffs in civil lawsuits filed in Atlantic County and in other states, such as Tennessee, are Biomedical Tissue Services Ltd., of Fort Lee; Lefecess Corp.; Lost Mountain Tissue Bank, Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas; Tutogen Medical Inc.; and Regeneration Technologies.
Shore Memorial Hospital and AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, used products from Regeneration Technologies supplied by Biomedical Tissue Services.
Bodine said he and his chief of staff, Glen Beebe, worked on the bill because they felt something had to be done in the state in which Biomedical Tissue Services is located.
He said he will ask that the bill be voted on in committee and get it to the floor as quickly as possible. “If we can't get that then we will write letters monthly asking for it to be heard.â€
The D'Arcy law firm, located in Atlantic County, is handling more than 100 potential civil claims involving patients who fear they may have contracted diseases from the corpse harvesting.
Andrew D'Arcy called Bodine's bill a good start.
The bone and tissue donations regulated by the federal Food and Drug Administration. New York and Florida are two states that have additional regulations.
D'Arcy said, “Given the fact New Jersey has the biggest tissue bank in the country — Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (in Edison) — I think we definitely need more regulations on tissue and bone donations.â€
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/story/5862074p-5877249c.html |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Personally I have no bone to pick with graveyards, I take the air there willingly, perhaps more willingly than elsewhere, when take the air I must.” - Samuel Beckett 1906-1989
Shirtless and Sculpted
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