US News New York's highest court to clarify family burial rights after teen's brain kept for autopsy

The Helper

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ALBANY, N.Y. – New York's highest court is being asked to decide whether medical examiners must inform families when they return autopsied bodies without certain organs.

The case involves a New York City couple who buried their 17-year-old son after a 2005 car crash, not knowing his brain had been removed.

Two months after the funeral, Jesse Shipley's high school class saw his brain in a labeled jar during a morgue field trip.

The Shipleys got it back and had a second funeral. A jury awarded them $1 million for emotional distress, reduced to $600,000 by a midlevel court.

Lawyers for New York City argued Monday that pathologists have no legal duty to notify families or return organs, though they have recently and 80 percent of families don't want them.

A Court of Appeals ruling is expected next month.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/0...y-family-burial-rights-after-teen-brain-kept/
 

FireCat

Oh Shi.. Don't wake the tiger!
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Oh crap. Such thing, the family. should always be consulted first !
And If the deceased didn't consent to having their organs donated "for any reason" then NO
It should not be allowed to removing any organs, at all.
 

Varine

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Why? They're dead, what's it matter if they are buried without an organ or two? It's not like it will be of any use; all that it does is rot.
 

Accname

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How is the legal basis for "owning" the organs?
I mean, if the researchers keep the brain isnt it a little bit like stealing something that belonged to a deceased family member? Would the family "own" the body parts of their son? Could they say the brain was stolen?
 

Varine

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Not really. There aren't any laws as far as I know that say you actually own your organs that I know of, just laws that say you can't sell them (Iran is the only country where it's legal to sell a kidney for profit. It's also the only country that has no demand for kidneys...). But it is kind of inherent that your body parts are yours, so it falls into a gray area of legal/ethical issues.

I'm not understanding how they buried him and didn't know the brain was missing, though. I mean it's a pretty invasive surgery.
 

Accname

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The doctors probably put everything else back in place. And its the job of the people working at the morgue to make the corpse look presentable so how should they know?
Its not like the family is playing around with the corpse in any way.
 

FireCat

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Why? They're dead, what's it matter if they are buried without an organ or two? It's not like it will be of any use; all that it does is rot.
It's still your body dead or alive. No one can claim it isn't!
And Funeral cost you know. Well, whoever pays for the funeral family, friends, etc. What would they think if your brain been
hijacked. Cause of crazy examiners ? They're Just a bunch of thieves.
 

Varine

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I don't really care what they think, I would be dead. I imagine there is some bigger shit to figure out than where my brain is. Plus I don't expect to have it anyway, most of me is getting donated to various things.
 
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