Part 4 in a four-part series
The human tissue industry has created medical advances for millions of Americans. Tissue taken from cadavers is turned into medical products for the living. A tendon can be used to repair a torn ACL. Veins are used in heart bypass operations. Bone can be turned into plates and screws. They look like something you’d find in a hardware store, but these get used to mend a broken leg. It’s a $1 billion-a-year industry that attracts the altruistic, but sometimes the greedy.
Michael Mastromarino’s name may not sound familiar, but you might remember the story that made national news: Mastromarino and several funeral home directors in New York and New Jersey pleaded guilty in a scheme to take tissue from corpses — without getting a family’s consent — and then selling those parts for transplant. One of those bodies was that of the late Masterpiece Theatre host, Alistair Cooke.
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