Posted on 02/03/2006 8:43:33 PM PST by presidio9
Calling it a danger to public heath, the Food and Drug Administration shut down a biomedical firm on Friday amid allegations the company covertly harvested human tissue for profit at funeral homes in the New York city area and elsewhere.
The FDA sanction against Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., was the latest development in a brewing scandal involving scores of funeral homes and hundreds of looted bodies, including that of "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke.
Federal and local authorities have been investigating whether the firm's chief executive, Michael Mastromarino, and a business associate paid off funeral homes so they could take bone and skin from the dead without their families' knowledge.
Investigators say some body parts came from elderly people and perhaps victims of infectious diseases, and the paperwork was doctored to say they had been younger and healthier.
The tissue was sold to other companies around the country that process implants and grafts used in a variety of surgeries. Late last year, the FDA ordered a recall of the potentially tainted products and warned that an untold number of patients could have been exposed to HIV and other diseases.
Further investigation has uncovered evidence that Biomedical Tissue Services failed to screen for contaminated tissue, the FDA said on Friday. The agency also found that death certificates in the company's files were at odds with those on file with the state over the age of the deceased and the cause and time of death.
Allowing the firm to remain open "would present a danger to public health by increasing the risk of communicable disease transmission," said Margaret Glavin, the FDA's associate director of regulatory affairs.
Mastromarino's attorney, Mario Gullucci, confirmed the company had ceased operations, but said his client denied the allegations and planned to go to court so he could reopen.
"Everything that was done was done according to FDA regulations," he said.
He also denied that Mastromarino took body parts without permission.
"Nobody was carving up bodies in unsanitary conditions," he said. "He was above board on everything."
The prosecutors, who are weighing possible criminal charges against Mastromarino, declined comment.
When the FDA came to close the doors of the firm, the CEO or Biomedical Tissue Services said 'Aw, C'mon! Have a heart!'
As the FDA officers were searching the lab, Mastromarino was stading in the doorway asking "can I give you boys a hand?"
The guy's gonna lose his business because he just doesn't have the guts to stand up to the feds. The real tragedy is that the feds will succeed even if they don't have a leg to stand on in this case.
Actually, sounds like about 17 previous "Law & Order" episodes.
EWWWWWWWW--on so many different levels
bump
"Look, I told the guy - if he didn't want me to saw off his arm to say somethin' now, an' he didn't, so I figgered I had his permission..."
there is no respect for the human body.
Nothing but grafts and corruption.
When the CEO said, "Slap me some skin!" your best bet was to keep your hand away from him...
Grave robbing is one of the oldest crimes known to man. Of course, it usually involves jewelry, not actual body parts.
I heard that the famous "wendy's finger cost the perp $100". Plus 9 years.
All posters are really giving their replys with heart and soul.
Okay, who has the "Just Damn" ping list again?
I agree. They're heartless.
"If I only had a brain"
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