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The High Demand for Plastinated Specimens
Although the eminent importance of plastination for medical study has been acknowledged and there is a great deal of interest in the process, for years now the demand for high-quality plastinated specimens for instructional purposes has not been met. This is due to the following reasons: Only a few academic establishments are in a position to set up their own plastination laboratories and to train and pay the staff needed to maintain such a facility. The nature and size of some academic institutions (such as nursing colleges and training centers for medical technicians and other medical professions) would not support such activities. New technological developments in plastination mean that it is now possible to preserve entire bodies. Whole-body specimens are particularly valuable for anatomical study, because students can examine the body in its entirety, in the same way as they will later be examining and treating living bodies in theirentirety. Consequently, the development of plastination has now been getting away from preserving small individual specimens to dissecting whole bodies. This process is technically extremely complex and is far beyond the scope of a university laboratory. Theoretically, manufacturers of teaching aids could remedy this situation to produce plastinated specimens for anatomical study using the best equipment available. However, is the production of plastinated specimens involves major expenses, they could not be given away for free; they would have to be sold. No one would be prepared to do this in practice, as the sale of bodies or parts of bodies is a controversial issue in our society and is considered unethical or morally objectionable.
This situation not only applies to producing plastinated specimens, but to other urgently needed human specimens as well, despite the fact that their sale and purchase are not against the law in Germany and other Western countries. An important and understandable reason for the controversy surrounding this issue is due to the fact that the donors have not explicitly agreed to let their bodies be sold after their deaths. There are neither laws which state that dead bodies must be left intact, nor are there any which do not allow parts of such bodies to be removed unless consent has been given. Consequently, there is a legal gray area which the tabloid press can always interpret as something scandalous, accusing people of getting rich at the expense of the dead. The real question is whether such claims are fueled by a legitimate interest or by sensationalism, but this is not an issue for the scientific world to resolve. It is a problem for the respective media and their audiences. There are many people who would like to donate their bodies to medical science after their deaths. One means of doing so is to work with the anatomical institutes of universities. However, such establishments are unable to pass on specimens to other academic institutions in need of such bodies, as costs could be incurred for which they do not want to issue invoices if body donors have not agreed to a sale. In adddition, “services” like these are technically not within the declared province of a university in most countries. This situation is particularly awkward, as anatomical institutes frequently have to turn down prospective body donors, because they already have more than enough bodies for their own instruction.
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