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| In article <11qn42s644eh53d@corp.supernews.com>, waterspider@moonlight.net
(Waterspider) wrote:
> This does have a few earmarks of the urban myth.
>
> Waterspider
But this is no myth is it Spidey? This is *News*
http://news.independent.co.uk/world...ticle334823.ece
Mr Cooke's daughter, Susan Kittredge, said she learned last week that her
father may have been one of the victims of a ghoulish body-parts-for-sale
scam that has been under investigation by the District Attorney's office in
Brooklyn for several months.
Several months? Have they actually warned anybody? Have they told any doctors
that an investigation was going on?
So far, investigators believe they have uncovered about 30 cases where bodies
submitted for burial or cremation in New York were illicitly plundered in an
illegal trade that could be worth billions of dollars. The parts were
allegedly sold to companies that recycle human tissue for use in patients.
When he died, aged 95, and just four weeks after giving up his broadcasts,
cancer had spread to his bones. But prosecutors believe that did not stop the
suspects from surgically extracting bones from his body and selling them on.
They could then have been recycled for dental implants or other bone
reconstructive procedures.
Ms Kittredge told the New York Daily News that she felt "shocked and
saddened" by the morbid revelation and expressed additional dismay that
patients may have unwittingly received bone material from someone who was 95
and cancer-stricken.
"That people in need of healing should have received his body parts,
considering his age and the fact that he was ill when he died, is as
appalling to the family as is that his remains were violated," she said.
According to one source familiar with the ongoing investigation, parts stolen
from dead bodies by members of the ring ranged from skin to cardiac valves as
well as bones, usually the largest ones from legs and arms. To avoid
detection, they would allegedly replace the bones with long PVC pipes or even
broomsticks.
A grisly tale unearthed
The macabre case of the New York body-snatchers surfaced with the help of a
whistleblower, Robert Nelms, after he purchased the Daniel George Funeral
Home in Brooklyn. He and his wife, Deborah Johnson, discovered documents
suggesting that secret body-chopping had occurred on the premises. At the
centre of the investigation, according to police, is a former New York
dentist, Michael Mastromarino, who ran a firm called Biomedical Tissue
Services. Mr Mastromarino allegedly sold Alistair Cooke's bones to
Regeneration Technologies of Florida and Tutogen Medical of New Jersey.
Neither company would comment.
I bet they wouldn't!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4552742.stm
Alistair Cooke's bones 'stolen'
An investigation is under way in New York into allegations that the bones of the
late broadcaster Alistair Cooke were stolen before his cremation.
Cooke, known for the Letter from America he broadcast for the BBC, died almost
two years ago, aged 95.
According to the New York Daily News his bones were stolen by a criminal ring
trading body parts.
They were later sold by a biomedical tissue company now under investigation, the
paper claims.
When Cooke died of lung cancer that spread to his bones in March 2004, his body
was taken to a funeral home in Manhattan.
Two days later, relatives of the iconic broadcaster received his ashes, which
were then scattered in New York's Central Park.
Now they have been told that body snatchers allegedly surgically removed his
bones and sold them for more than $7,000 (£4,000) to a company supplying parts
for use in dental implants and various orthopaedic procedures.
The US attorney general's office in Brooklyn is investigating an elaborate ring
involving funeral directors, surgeons and entrepreneurs.
This is a grim and ghoulish tale which has understandably appalled everyone who
knew Cooke, says the BBC's Guto Harri in New York.
Cooke's stepdaughter, Holly Rumbold, told the BBC's World at One programme she
was outraged by the claims.
"I'm most shocked by the violation of the medical ethics, that my stepfather's
ancient and cancerous bones should have been passed off as healthy tissue to
innocent patients," she said.
"I'm furious, I'm enraged, I'm outraged. My stepfather is not the only one
that's been used for this macabre purpose and people are making billions of
dollars out of it."
Cooke's daughter, Susan Kittredge, also said she was shocked and saddened.
And, as the cause of his death was at least partially bone cancer, she said she
was equally appalled that patients in need of healthy transplant pieces could
have received diseased bones.
The use of cancerous bone for transplant is a violation of the US Food and Drug
Administration's rules, the New York Daily News says. The use of tissue from
very elderly people is also against transplant guidelines.
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/st...1673270,00.html
Family's dismay after Alistair Cooke's bones stolen by New York gang
· Relatives of Letter from America author 'outraged'
· Body parts ring included surgeons and undertakers
Gary Younge in New York and Sam Jones
Friday December 23, 2005
The Guardian
The bones of the late broadcaster Alistair Cooke, whose legendary Letter from
America became one of the BBC's most treasured dispatches, were stolen shortly
before his cremation, it was alleged yesterday.
As his life's work drew tributes from both sides of the Atlantic, a criminal
gang allegedly surgically removed his bones and sold them for more than $7,000
(£4,000) to a company supplying parts for use in dental implants and other
orthopaedic procedures, according to the New York Daily News.
An investigation into the gang, which is alleged to have made millions from
several hundred similar snatches, is being carried out by the Brooklyn district
attorney's office. Last week it called the Cooke family to say that his corpse
had been mutilated and sold.
Speaking last night, Cooke's daughter, Susan Kittredge, described the news as
"appalling".
Cooke, a former Guardian writer, died of cancer in March 2004. His body was
taken to a funeral home in Spanish Harlem on the Upper East side of Manhattan
and was cremated two days later. A few weeks after that his family granted him
his dying wish by sprinkling his ashes from Starbucks cups in Central Park.
"[The] family is shocked and saddened by news that following his death parts of
his body were illegally sold for transplant," said Mrs Kittredge, who lives in
Vermont. "That people in need of healing should have received his body parts,
considering his age and the fact that he was ill when he died, is as appalling
to the family as is that his remains were violated."
She said her mother was on her way from New York to join her, adding: "Mother is
93 and it's as disturbing and confusing and unimaginable for her as it is for
most people."
Cooke's long-time secretary, Patricia Yasek, said the news was "truly appalling"
and too upsetting to talk about. The broadcaster's stepdaughter, Holly Rumbold,
told the BBC that what had been done to his body was "corrupt and evil".
She went on to express frustration and fear that, given that her father had had
bone cancer, any transplant could compound the tragedy.
"I'm most shocked by the violation of the medical ethics that my stepfather's
ancient and cancerous bones should have been passed off as healthy tissue to
innocent patients in their quest for better health," she said.
The criminal gang accused of stealing Cooke's bones is at the heart of an
extensive ring of conspirators, including funeral homes, surgeons and biomedical
companies that has allegedly been in operation for at least five years. The gang
is believed to have sold tendons, ligaments and dental remains. Authorities are
also investigating whether they have sold skin for burn victims and heart valves
and arteries for cardiac patients.
Funeral directors were reportedly paid $500 for a corpse, which would then be
dissected. The relevant body parts were then taken away and PVC pipes used to
fill out the clothed bodies that would go into open caskets. The body parts
would later be separated, frozen and shipped to legitimate companies which would
undertake further processing before final sale and transplant. Meanwhile medical
records, including the age of the deceased and cause of death, would be altered
to make the body parts more attractive to buyers.
Cooke's case is one of hundreds under investigation since the alleged ring was
exposed around 18 months ago.
The Brooklyn district attorney's office said yesterday it had no comment to make
on the case. Letter from America, which began in 1946 and chronicled the
changing nature of US politics, society and culture, became the world's
longest-running speech radio programme. It ran to 2,869 editions over six
decades before Cooke recorded his last report on February 20 2004, a few weeks
before his death.
A BBC spokeswoman said last night: "We share people's extreme revulsion at this
news and our thoughts are with Alistair's family."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/st...1673270,00.html
Come on do tell me Spidey? Is this an urban myth when it is all over the British
News? How many people in America have recieved these *infected* body parts?
Alan
"Can't you see we're still here,
Can't you see we're still here,
Singing loud; Singing clear,
We shall not go under,
We're still here."
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