Body Donations Get You a Free Cremation, But…
Do you know what actually happens to the donated body? According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), “When a family chooses to donate a loved one’s body for education or research, they do so with the hope that they will help others. Regrettably, many are unknowingly contributing to a for-profit industry in which the body of their loved one could be traded as raw material in a largely unregulated national market.”
“With the introduction of the Consensual Donation and Research Integrity Act of 2021 (H.R. 4062; CDRI Act) in the House, which has the full support of NFDA, Congress is taking a significant step toward protecting the dignity of donors and offering peace of mind to families.”
Reuters’ “The Body Brokers” Series
In 2017, the Reuters news service did an in-depth five-part series called The Body Brokers. The stories reveal a horror show: donated bodies hacked apart and sold, people with little experience doing grisly, crude dissections, severed heads stacked on shelves.
The for-profit, scientific donation of bodies, known as non-transplant tissue banks or body brokers, currently isn’t under any federal regulation. Body brokers are different from the organ and tissue transplant industry, which does have oversight by the US government. They are also outside of the medical schools that use donated bodies for students to study anatomy.
Congress is stepping up to eliminate these abuses. The NFDA supports the Consensual Donation & Research Integrity Act, which will protect the dignity of donors and give families peace of mind by creating standards for registration; inspection; chain of custody; labeling and packaging; and proper disposition.
The CDRI Act, introduced by Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), would provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services with oversight of entities that deal with human bodies and non-transplantable body parts donated for education, research and the advancement of medical, dental and mortuary science; registered members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which are already strictly regulated, would be exempt.
The bill also, among other things, creates a clear chain of custody for each human body or body part; ensures shipments of human bodies and body parts are properly labeled and packaged; and ensures the respectful and proper disposition of donated bodies and body parts. Additionally, the CDRI Act establishes penalties for violations. You can read the full story on the Connecting Directors website here.
If you still want to get a free cremation using a body donation service, here’s a Family Plot blog post that lists contacts for body donation services approved by the AATB, the American Association of Tissue Banks.
Cremation Urns, Jewelry and Keepsakes
Need a cremation urn, cremation jewelry, or keepsake urns? Check out A Good Goodbye’s Urn Store. At this online shopping site, you’ll find a wide selection of quality products, the same ones that funeral homes purchase. You can place your order through the secure site, or call 888-317-3099 and speak with a live person.
There are urns of brass, wood, ceramics, marble, and biodegradable options. The jewelry includes options in gold, sterling silver, stainless steel, and glass. There are lovely handmade urns and jewelry, and fingerprint jewelry that can preserve the unique patterns of people and pets in silver or gold. The site also features The Life Chest, beautiful memento storage boxes in a range of styles.
The online store is run by UPD Urns, a respected company with a long track record of providing cremation products to funeral homes. The public can now browse and directly buy the same products carried by funeral homes. The FTC Funeral Rule allows the public to bring their own cremation containers to a funeral home, which must accept it without charging a fee.
You can choose your products and place your order online through the secure site, which accepts payment by Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express and PayPal. If you prefer, call 888-317-3099 and speak with a live person.