Father and son in Illinois sold diseased human remains for profit, federal charges say
Two Illinois men sold human remains and falsely told buyers on multiple occasions that the cadavers had tested negative for diseases, federal prosecutors in Michigan said in court documents filed last week.
Donald Greene Sr. has been charged with wire fraud and his son — Donald Greene II — knew about the scheme but failed to report it, the charges say. The Illinois men were associated with Biological Resource Center of Rosemont, Illinois, a company that sold human remains.
In one case, Greene Sr. sold remains that had tested positive for hepatitis to the Detroit Medical Center in a 2013, prosecutors allege.
The goal of the scheme was to "profit from payments made by customers who were unaware that they either received remains that had tested positive for serious infectious diseases or were unable to be tested for these diseases," the charges state.
"Body brokers" can make money by charging institutions for access to donated bodies for scientific purposes such as research and education, Reuters documented in 2017.
The largely unregulated industry can sell or rent whole bodies or body parts, the report says. The industry is distinct from strictly regulated organ donation, in which vital organs are used to medically help a person who is still alive.
Federal charges say Biological Resource Center customers would only buy remains that had tested negative for "certain infectious diseases."
The charges were filed as a criminal information, which suggests a guilty plea is expected. The names of the Greenes' lawyers weren't immediately known.
The charges are related to an investigation of Detroit-area cadaver dealer Arthur Rathburn.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/10/illinois-man-son-sold-diseased-human-remains-feds-michigan/3429923002/