Med School Fiasco Involves Cadavers Mixed-Up Records, Possible Improper Sale Of Body Parts

A new medical school scandal exploded at the University of California, Irvine on Friday, as officials disclosed they are investigating whether parts of bodies donated for research were improperly sold, and whether cremated remains were sent to the wrong families.

Medical school officials have fired the director of its Willed Body Program, called in the District Attorney and set up a toll-free number for family members in an effort to determine whether ashes were properly returned to relatives.

Irregularities in the program were discovered during a routine audit that began in January, but officials said they have been unable to determine the extent of the problem.

Frustrating the investigation are the incomplete or missing records kept by program director Christopher S. Brown, who officials suspect had a financial interest in several companies that did business with the program. Investigators found that a computer virus had destroyed most records on Brown’s office computer, said Dr. Thomas B. Cesario, dean of the UCI College of Medicine.

Cesario stressed that the university’s review has not found anything to suggest that the bodies were used for anything other than education or research. But it’s unclear, he said, if the ashes of some 225 bodies over three years were properly returned or scattered at sea as requested by donors.

Seeking information from survivors of donors, officials on Friday established a hotline: (800) 758-4102. They also have written to 34 families who have asked about the disposal of their relatives’ remains.

The medical school has been rocked by one scandal after another over the past five years, beginning with the misdeeds at its fertility clinic, where eggs were stolen from patients.

The latest problem began after a routine audit turned up an expense-account item in which Brown charged the university for a trip to Phoenix. There, university officials say, Brown sold six spines to an Arizona research program in exchange for a $5,000 check made out to University Medical Services, an organization that UCI officials say they do not recognize.

Brown - who made about $33,000 a year - was placed on leave by the university on Aug. 9. The 27-year-old man has held the nonfaculty position since 1996. He was notified Tuesday that he will be terminated next week.

On Friday Brown denied any wrongdoing.

The scandal is not the first problem at the Willed Body Program. Last year, the remains of about 40 people who had donated their bodies to UCI were found stockpiled in an Anaheim mortuary. Southwest Mortuary Service had been hired by the university program to scatter the ashes into the Pacific Ocean, but investigators determined that some of the bodies had been cremated up to 14 years earlier.