Donating your body to science? Nobody wants a chubby corpse

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   Stacie Lposted 11 years ago

   Donating your body to science? Nobody wants a chubby corpse
   By JoNel Aleccia
   
   It’s a rare day when Richard Drake turns down a dead body, but last week, he had no choice.
   
   At 6-foot-1 and 350 pounds, the deceased in question was simply too big for the Cleveland Clinic Body Donation Program, which provides specimens for anatomy classes at the Lerner College of Medicine and elsewhere.
   Officials at some whole body donation programs in the United States tell msnbc.com they’ve turned away corpses that are too fat for scientific study. Others say the bigger issue is that potential donors simply don’t sign up once they learn of weight limits that can be as low as 170 pounds, but generally top out at 300 pounds.
   
   
   http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/ … bby-corpse
   too fat to be used for medical science?

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      MelissaVsWorldposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have heard of such things before.  In some ways, I can see where weight could be an issue, but in such situations they should harvest any organs which can be used.  The argument against this will undoubtedly be that once someone hits a certain weight, their organs are most likely not suitable for much due to the damage being overweight can cause.

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      yolanda yvetteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Ridiculousness!

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   Wesman Todd Shawposted 11 years ago

   That's pretty sad.  I can't help but wonder if organs were wasted that could have saved someone's life.

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      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Whole body donation is for anatomy study by medical students, not organs.  And I imagine they are limited by what can go on the table, through the door and fit in the chiller--fat levels may also effect the preservative methods and easy of access to the body parts they are meant to be studying.  It is not like they care is the body is "pretty" just whether they can use it as a teaching tool.

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   raqibdedeposted 11 years ago

   Your  extraordinary people

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   Hendrikaposted 11 years ago

   I am surprised, I would have thought it can be used to see exactly what the damage of overweight is.

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   Muldaniaposted 11 years ago

   So, it seems even after we have died, we still are expected to worry about our weight.  Body image surely shouldn't be something the dead need to concern themsleves with.

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   Cassie Smithposted 11 years ago

   Wow, who knew that scientists were prejudiced against fat people in death.

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   rlahaposted 11 years ago

   Hmm... while I can understand that an obese person may have less healthy organs for organ donation, I am saddened by this person's plight.  At least someone should have autopsied to find out if there were any obesity related diseases just for the sake of testing to find out. It would have helped to lessen the curiosity.

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      psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Whole body donation is not organ donation.

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         rlahaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I understand that. But if you donate your whole body to science, then wouldn't your organs also be donated?

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