UNSW and body parts scandal (1 Viewer)

[zeek]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21179991-1702,00.html

THE University of NSW has apologised to the families of people whose remains were donated for anatomy classes following a scandal over the abuse of body parts.

The university's school of anatomy had its licence to conduct anatomy classes revoked after an audit revealed remains were sexually interfered with, and piled together in coffins.

Police are investigating claims about the mistreatment of cadavers, including fondling of breasts and vaginas, and using a head for degrading purposes, Fairfax newspapers reported today.

The audit also revealed serious problems with labelling and storage of cadavers.

The university's Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Henry said while no formal contact had yet been made to the families of body donors, he did have a message for them.

"We'd like to apologise for any distress those families are suffering at the moment,'' Prof Henry told ABC Radio.

"The difficulty is we are still trying to fully understand what happened.

"We are caught in the balance of not wanting to unnecessarily concern the families and at the same time we don't want to fail to apologise.''

The university was still in the process of identifying which bodies had been involved but once that was done, it would personally contact relatives, he said.

Prof Henry denied that the university had known about the allegations for three years.

The claims concerning a laboratory staff member and a supervisor had only come to light in October last year when two other staff members made the allegations under protected disclosure, he said.

The accused staff member no longer works at the university while the supervisor has accused university authorities of ignoring attempts to blow the whistle on the abuse for three years.

Prof Henry said the university had no interest in making the supervisor, who stands accused of overseeing the mislabelling of body parts, or anyone else a scapegoat.

Prof Henry said while the university had left the claims of sexual abuse to the police, it was closely investigating the issue of mislabelling and storage.

The university planned to upgrade the laboratory, which is used to train surgeons rather than medical students, who use an unrelated facility at the campus, and microchip body parts, he said.

 

[BlackDragon]

yuk. anyone actually at unsw who uses this facility?

 

[zeek]

i don't know anyone, but it'd suck if someone just got into UNSW medicine only to find out that they can't do it anymore because of this

 

[Skeeta]

I'm fairly sure that UNSW will still run medicine as a course - they will just have to change the structure of their anatomy classes. It will be a major inconvenience though.

Its a terrible event, not only because of what has happened, but there is no doubt that this is going to discourage some people from donating their bodies to science. Even if they DO donate (in their will), the family can still refuse.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Looks like I got out of there just in time. I was planning on doing a major that had a fair few anatomy classes in it. It's a shame, that a few bad eggs can spoil the reputation of that whole faculty, really.

 

[BlackDragon]

Looks like I got out of there just in time. I was planning on doing a major that had a fair few anatomy classes in it. It's a shame, that a few bad eggs can spoil the reputation of that whole faculty, really.

I think it certainly will for a long time. Necrophilia is so goddamn disgusting, a-moral, and illegal.

 

[tres bien]

This stuff never happens at USYD.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

This stuff has never happened at UNSW before either.

 

[ObjectsInSpace]

Wow, people write UNE off as being a useless university, but you guys can't even keep track of dead people.

 

[AntiHyper]

Wouldn't most of the dead bodies be people of around 70-80 years old?

As I doubt there would be many youngens who dies.

 

[jojusneedssleep]

ewww so not a nice thought. i feel sorry for the ppl who do have these classes, everyone is gonna look at them suss-ly.

 

[mr_brightside]

...and using a head for degrading purposes

haha thats fucking gross.

 

[withoutaface]

Hahahahahaha.

That is all.

 

[Riet]

I didn't read the article but when it said sexual things I thought of them posing the bodies in, err... certain ways.

 

[karoooh]

Eurgh. :\

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

If you saw a dead body, would you not fondle it? Vote Sideshow Bob for mayor.

Also, my guess is that "fondling the breasts and vagina" probably doesn't mean necrophilia, all you wise people who suggested such an idea. It was probably just a matter of poking them and saying "zOMG! Look at teh Boobies!". If thaty's the case, it really doesn't indicate sexual abuse either. Abuse, yeah. Sexual? Hardly, considering that the body was fucking dead.

 

[BlackDragon]

Yeah but they said the head was used for "degrading purposes". That sort of does in a we-don't-want-to-actually-say-it kind of way.

 

[Skeeta]

If you saw a dead body, would you not fondle it? Vote Sideshow Bob for mayor.

Also, my guess is that "fondling the breasts and vagina" probably doesn't mean necrophilia, all you wise people who suggested such an idea. It was probably just a matter of poking them and saying "zOMG! Look at teh Boobies!". If thaty's the case, it really doesn't indicate sexual abuse either. Abuse, yeah. Sexual? Hardly, considering that the body was fucking dead.

I dont think so.

I am at usyd, but often are in the labs with Cavaders. The bodies are treated with respect, but they DO get prodded, examined, passed around and cavities opened on a regular basis (to look at structures inside, etc) There are bodies cut up in various ways, to show cross sections, different parts of the anatomy.

Now, most of my work is with the brain and, head and neck, but i can image similar things would happen with doctors, physio's, gynacologists etc. The bodies are there to LEARN from, not to be fondled. Theres a major difference between touching a breast for a medical examination or for other purposes. Its not like touching the breasts/penii are off limits, its neccesarry for some subjects but thats what they signed up for.

The people in the lab, take their jobs very seriously (well at least they do at USYD) and the first thing we have EVER been told in the labs, was to respect the bodies.

Like I said, this is a shame, because I'm sure that it would detract more people from donating their bodies to science.

 

[Iheartpaulfrank]

Ew. Necrophilia is just wrong.

 

[HotShot]

FUCKEN weirdo UNSW STudents !!!