where do all the cadavers come from?

I recently lost a family member and have been to several funerals and always at the end the funeral directors send the family on their way with, "We think it is best for everyone concerned if the family and friends go home now and let us finish up here. Everyone leaves before the coffin is even lowered into the ground and like most people I left, everyone did. But now after watching a movie that featured cadavers I now am wondering, where do they get them from? I know some people leave their bodies to science but I don't know anyone who did that. Since I would assume that these places need a fresh supply of bodies where do they come from? Has there been any cases where a body was exhumed and they discovered an empty coffin or nothing at all. I'm just curious, I don't mean to creep anyone out or to slam the funeral industry but Once I saw this show it occurred to me that there has to be a business somewheres that gathers and provides these cadavers to the medical schools.

Most cadavers are either Joh/Jane Does, or people who either donate, or sell thier body after death to a medical school.

did you watch never die alone?

Before, a body is given to the medical community, it has to be the consent of the family and legal issues are worked out before this.

The same way in your driver�s licenses you choose to become an organ donor you also can choose to donate your body to the medical community.

John Doe's bodies are also use for research.

Ones in a while you will read in the news about something weird, going on with a body, but is not as often as some people will like to believe.



www.redcross.or.th...

As a funeral service professional, I can tell you the reason the family is asked to leave before the casket is lowered into the grave, and where the cadavers come from.

the reason you are asked to leave before the casket is lowered into the grave is because of insurance. Some family members become so distraught that they will literally try to follow the casket in, and its hard to get someone living out of that hole, especially when the dirt around it is freshly dug. so, for the majority of cemeteries, it's common practice to ask family members to leave, although if you ask, and are a few feet away from the grave, you will usually be allowed to stay.

Cadavers are either donated by the deceased, in which case it will be specified in their will, and made known to the funeral director and the family, or they are a john or jane doe, and those can only be used if the remains have been unclaimed for a certain period of time, usually decided upon by the county.

In most states, the family alone does not have the authority to donate a loved one's remains, unless they are a minor.

Hope that clears it up!

Back we I am from, we wait until the body is buried we do not leave, or asked to leave.

Like I said, it all depends on the area, but predominantly, due to insurance, onlookers are not allowed to stick around during the actual lowering of the casket.

I have met a few people who have asked that question. In fact a lot of people still wonder if bodysnatching still goes on and if their corpse will be left in peace after burial. Normally this question is asked once they hear of Burke & Hare, the Edinburgh body snatchers turned murderers.

In early 19th century Britain, the law stated that only the bodies of executed criminals could be used for autopsy purposes. But with the ever-growing popularity of anatomy studies, the demand for fresh corpses soon outstripped the supply, and grave robbing became common practice among criminals who wanted to earn an easy pound. - see links below

These days most medical institutions get their bodies from either those who leave them to science or those who die unidentified, although usually even the unknown receive a 'paupers grave' from the council these days (I'm taking about the UK here).

During the funurals I have attended, if the body is cremated, you just see the coffin either exit through a doorway or curtains cover it. For burials, the ritual is ended once the coffin is lowered into the grave and the priest speaks a blessing.

W. Smith (1829)
BBC - Burke & Hare

[edit on 27-6-2004 by Pisky]

A dear friend of mine died of cancer and donated her body to science. She was in Hospice care and, upon her death, we waited for the professionals, from the medical school to come and retrieve the body. She had to sign a specific legal instrument allowing her body to be given to science. After about 2 years time, the family was called and told that her "work" was done and asked about what should be done. They chose for her body to be cremated and buried.
I have seen bodies lowered into the ground, but I would much prefer to go away and not see that heartbreaking ritual.
I truly doubt that grave robbers are lying in wait to snatch the body when the family leaves. Sure, there may be the occasional kook, but can you imagine the legal ramifications, for the funeral industry, if this were common practice? I'm not even going into the ethics and morality of it. It would be catastrophic for what is, essentially, a business.
I can also understand why funeral professionals don't want the family hanging around when the body is lowered into the grave. Most people, by that time, are so tired, distraught, and at their wit's end, that seeing the body lowered into the ground might just cause them to snap. I know I would've snapped if I had to watch Mom and Dad's burial.
Sorry for the ramble.
joey

A couple of years ago there was a case of a funeral parlour where the owner stashed all the bodies in his back yard. I think they got over 30, stacked into sheds, or buried under the vegies.

So.. maybe after you leave they are turning them into compost somewhere?

Netchicken, yes it happened in GA, we know people that had love death love ones in that mess, they were supposed to be cremated. But the ovens were damage and the owner will give the family a mixture of flour for remains. Very spooky and sad story.

Yeah, that happened in Georgia like last year. But it was a whole lot more than 30 bodies... Closer to like 70 or something. The loser was supposed to have cremated the bodies and returned the ashes in a urn to the family... Instead he was returning paper ashes, flour and chips of chicken bones to the family. Sad! I'm sure he'll get locked up for a Loooooooooong time.

As a person who was required to dissect a cadaver as part of my school training I will tell you what I know. Cadavers are quite expensive and they can often be in short supply. Our school paid about $10,000US per cadaver. We do not use unclaimed bodies in our school, and most schools do not. I can definitely see why this is the case. That unclaimed body was once a person and he had views and wishes, just because he could not be identified should he no longer have the same rights as other people. What if he was religously opposed to having his body cut up? Unless you know he wanted to have his body donated to research, then he should not be donated.

All parts of the body are saved and stored, once we were done with the bodies they can be returned back to the families for burial or cremation.

Originally posted by greenkoolaid
As a person who was required to dissect a cadaver as part of my school training I will tell you what I know. Cadavers are quite expensive and they can often be in short supply. Our school paid about $10,000US per cadaver. We do not use unclaimed bodies in our school, and most schools do not. I can definitely see why this is the case. That unclaimed body was once a person and he had views and wishes, just because he could not be identified should he no longer have the same rights as other people. What if he was religously opposed to having his body cut up? Unless you know he wanted to have his body donated to research, then he should not be donated.

All parts of the body are saved and stored, once we were done with the bodies they can be returned back to the families for burial or cremation.

you cannot outright purchase a cadaver- your school paid to "rent" the body, for a specified amount of time, at the end of that period the body would then be cremated, and disposed of according to either the families wishes, the deceased's wishes, or returned to a funeral home for disposal.

Originally posted by Bobbo

Originally posted by greenkoolaid
As a person who was required to dissect a cadaver as part of my school training I will tell you what I know. Cadavers are quite expensive and they can often be in short supply. Our school paid about $10,000US per cadaver. We do not use unclaimed bodies in our school, and most schools do not. I can definitely see why this is the case. That unclaimed body was once a person and he had views and wishes, just because he could not be identified should he no longer have the same rights as other people. What if he was religously opposed to having his body cut up? Unless you know he wanted to have his body donated to research, then he should not be donated.

All parts of the body are saved and stored, once we were done with the bodies they can be returned back to the families for burial or cremation.

you cannot outright purchase a cadaver- your school paid to "rent" the body, for a specified amount of time, at the end of that period the body would then be cremated, and disposed of according to either the families wishes, the deceased's wishes, or returned to a funeral home for disposal.

You are arguing semantics, I said at the bottom that it can be returned. And no, they are not always returned. We have boxes of bones that weren't returned. We have slices of brain encased in lucite. There are parts that are laquered to preserve them. So no, they are not always returned. But yes as I said, they are returned if that is what is wanted.

While I understand that cadavers are needed I was shocked when I went to a community college and took anatomy and physiology that they had real skulls and bones for us to study. I thought there were all made out of some plastic and commented to my instructor that they had really tried to make them look real as the skull I was holding in my hand clearly needed dental work. The instructor informed me that it was a real skull I was holding in my hand, I propmptly handed it to him, and treated those body bones with much more respect after that. While I understand why medical students might have to have cadavers I feel its wrong if something else will do like in this case there could be something in plastic done just as anatomically correct as the real thing.