S.C. patients might have gotten stolen body parts

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S.C. patients might have gotten stolen body parts

At least 40 transplants might be linked to New York case

The Associated Press

CHARLESTON — At least 41 patients of ton-area hospitals have been notified that they might have received transplants of stolen human tissue in connection with a case in New York that involved workers at funeral homes taking parts from dead bodies.

“This is happening to hospitals all over the country,” said Tricia Crimminger, spokeswoman for Roper St. Francis, which notified 31 patients. “We were all surprised at this.”

The letters stem from an investigation into a ring that took human tissue, such as bone, skin and tendons, from cadavers without families’ permission and sold them for a profit.

It was unclear Thursday whether any local hospitals had purchased the stolen tissue.

Investigators worry some of the stolen body parts were diseased, and could infect patients who received them in skin grafts, dental implants or orthopedic procedures — a risk concealed by paperwork doctored with forged signatures and false information.

In one case involving the body of famed British broadcaster Alistair Cooke, investigators contacted Cooke’s family after finding paperwork indicating his bones had been removed and sold by a Fort Lee, N.J., tissue bank, Biomedical Tissue Services, before he was cremated.

Cooke, best known as the host of “Masterpiece Theatre,” died from cancer last year at 95 in Manhattan. The family insists it never signed off on the procedure and that someone had falsified documents by changing his cause of death to heart attack.

Harvesting bones from cancer patients violates Food and Drug Administration rules. The FDA has issued a public warning that Biomedical Tissue might have obtained tissue without proper screening for disease.

The FDA said Biomedical Tissue Services sold these body parts to processing companies and distributors, including Regeneration Technologies and Medtronic Inc. The tissues ultimately ended up at hospitals across the country where surgeons unknowingly put them in patients.

In ton, 10 patients at the Medical University of South Carolina have been offered free tests for certain diseases. A hospital statement said the FDA and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention think the tissues have a low risk because they went through normal sterilization processes.

Doctors at Roper St. Francis received bone tissues from Medtronic, Crimminger said.

She said Medtronic notified the hospital about the issue in early November, and doctors began contacting patients two weeks later. Medtronic paid for the tests.

“We were told that the risk of health problems is infinitesimal,” she said.

One 67-year-old St. Francis patient told The (ton) Post and Courier that he had a cadaver bone inserted into his spine last summer and his doctor told him about the tissue last month during a checkup. He didn’t want his name used but told the newspaper that he was tested for hepatitis, HIV and other diseases and all tests came back negative.

Medtronic spokesman Bert said patients are being tested for hepatitis B and C, HIV, and syphilis. He said he was unaware of any health problems caused by the implanted tissues.

“It’s a very serious matter with these cases of hepatitis C being detected in other parts of the country,” said Jack Cordray, a ton lawyer representing the 67-year-old St. Francis patient. “Without better government oversight, we’re all at risk.”

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/13512923.htm