The Tarrant County Commissioners Court in Texas has implemented new rules regarding the handling of unclaimed bodies, following an NBC News investigation that revealed the University of North Texas Health Science Center had been cutting up and leasing out remains without families’ consent. The county will now cremate or bury unclaimed bodies only after making all possible efforts to contact relatives. The responsibility of contacting families has been shifted back to the county, costing an estimated $675,000 a year. Previously, the Health Science Center handled these tasks, but failures to contact reachable relatives were found. The new policy requires extensive efforts to locate and notify families before bodies are considered unclaimed. Cremation is preferred over burial, but the policy allows for burial in certain cases. The changes come after years of urging from bioethicist Eli Shupe to stop providing unclaimed bodies to the Health Science Center, sparking an evolution in medical ethics regarding the treatment of human remains. Families of deceased individuals like Dale Leggett, whose body was given to the Health Science Center without consent, have expressed relief that the new policy aims to prevent similar failures in the future. The article highlights the importance of respecting the dignity of deceased individuals and ensuring that families are informed and involved in the handling of their loved ones’ remains.
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