A body broker is a company or individual operating within the non-transplant human tissue donation market. This entity acquires donated whole bodies or specific body parts, processes them, and then distributes them for commercial uses like medical research and education. These organizations facilitate the supply of human remains to various scientific and training institutions. The bodies are not intended for life-saving transplantation but are instead used for purposes that advance medical understanding and technique. This industry serves a distinct and necessary function in the medical ecosystem by providing anatomical specimens for highly specialized applications.
Defining the Body Broker Industry
A body broker acquires deceased human remains, processes them into various anatomical specimens, and sells or leases the parts for profit to medical, educational, and research buyers. The business model involves monetizing the donation process by charging “fees” for services like acquisition, processing, handling, storage, and shipping. This practice skirts laws prohibiting the outright sale of human remains, transforming donated bodies into a commodity, often referred to as “non-transplant anatomical donation” or “tissue.”
The acquisition process often targets individuals who pre-donate their remains or families who consent after a loved one’s death. Brokers frequently solicit donations by offering to cover the cost of cremation, which appeals to families facing financial strain. The remains are sourced directly from individuals, hospice facilities, or through partnerships with funeral homes that refer potential donors.
Body Brokers vs. Organ and Tissue Donation
The body broker industry operates separately from the federally regulated system for organ and tissue transplantation. Federally governed Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) and transplant tissue banks focus on recovering organs and tissues for life-saving transplants, such as hearts, kidneys, skin, bone, and heart valves. The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) makes the sale of these transplantable organs illegal, ensuring the system remains altruistic.
In contrast, body brokers deal with non-transplantable human remains used for research and education, a market where NOTA’s regulations do not apply. The transplant system is highly regulated by the government, requiring strict protocols for donor screening, consent, and communicable disease testing to ensure recipient safety. The non-transplant sector lacks this level of comprehensive federal oversight, allowing for the commercial transaction of whole bodies and parts. The distinction is centered on the intended use: transplantable parts save lives directly, while non-transplantable parts advance science and training.
How the Non-Transplant Tissue Market Operates
Acquisition of a whole body is typically secured through a consent agreement with the donor or next-of-kin. Following a medical history review and infectious disease testing, the remains are transported to the broker’s facility. The preparation and processing phase involves dissection, where a cadaver is reduced to specific, marketable parts like heads, spines, limbs, or torsos. These dismemberments may be performed with instruments like chainsaws or bandsaws in facilities that are not subject to the sanitary standards of medical schools.
The broker preserves the parts through freezing or chemical solutions, inventories them, and creates a price list for clients. Parts are priced based on their utility and scarcity for specific training or testing procedures. A single head might sell for over $1,000, while a whole body can be sold or leased for a fee that ranges between $5,000 and $10,000. The remains can be bought, sold, or leased multiple times before final disposition, making it difficult to track their ultimate use.
The Consumers of Human Tissue
The end-users of human remains supplied by body brokers are diverse, spanning medical, academic, and governmental sectors.
- Medical device manufacturers purchase specific anatomical parts for testing and product development, such as using a joint to test the durability and function of a new implant or surgical tool.
- Surgical training facilities and professional organizations use specimens for hands-on practice, refining complex surgical techniques or learning new procedures.
- University anatomy labs, particularly those without their own willed body programs, purchase remains to supplement their educational curricula for medical students.
- Government or military research projects purchase parts, including those involving blast testing to study the effects of explosions on the human body.
The Legal and Regulatory Landscape
The regulatory vacuum at the federal level is a major issue in the body broker industry. The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) prohibits the sale of organs for transplant but does not extend its regulatory authority to the sale of whole bodies or non-transplant parts for research and education. This absence of comprehensive federal law means the commercial exchange of human remains for these purposes is not illegal.
The industry is governed by a fragmented, inconsistent patchwork of state laws. Most states have adopted the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), which regulates how a body may be donated but offers little oversight on what happens after the donation. Few state laws address how brokers dissect, handle, ship, price, or sell the remains. This lack of mandatory federal tracking or routine inspection allows almost anyone to operate a for-profit body brokerage.
Ethical Concerns and Controversies
Ethical concerns in the body broker industry revolve around informed consent, the dignity of the remains, and the exploitation of vulnerable donors. Informed consent is often compromised when donors or their families are not fully aware that the body will be dismembered, sold for profit, or used in destructive testing, such as military blast experiments. Many families donate under the belief that the body will be used by a non-profit academic institution.
The dignity of the remains has been a central point of investigations and lawsuits. These cases have exposed conditions, including remains stored in unsanitary environments, bodies dismembered with improper tools, and fraudulent activity. Brokers have been found to charge families for cremation and then fail to perform it, sometimes giving them containers filled with concrete or sand. The practice of offering free cremation to the poor or elderly also raises concerns about exploiting families who are financially unable to afford traditional funeral services.