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Last month we wrote about an NBC News exposé that detailed a years-long agreement involving the delivery by two North Texas counties of unclaimed bodies to the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. The UNT facility sold body parts to other schools and medical research centers who did not know the bodies were unclaimed.
Over 2,300 bodies were provided to the center by Tarrant and Dallas counties, the investigation found, saving each county hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in cremation and burial costs. In some cases, family members of the deceased were still looking for their loved one.
“It’s like a hole in your soul that can never be filled,” said the family member of one man, an Army veteran, whose body parts were leased out to multiple groups across the country. “We feel violated.”
The findings of NBC’s investigation have had a major ripple effect across North Texas in the weeks since publication, but a letter published by two members of Congress last week is asking whether the announced policy changes are enough. Here is everything that has resulted from NBC’s North Texas “Dealing the Dead” investigation.
Counties Cutting Contracts
Within days of publication of NBC’s investigation, Dallas County officials began assessing their contract with UNTHSC. Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins told the Observer the report had inspired changes in how the county would handle unclaimed bodies in the future.
“[The contract with the University of North Texas Health Science Center] has been suspended and will not be renewed. Effective immediately, Dallas County will only provide unclaimed remains for medical research if the decedent has provided consent in writing before death or the family provides consent in writing after death,” Jenkins said in a statement. “The County will be procuring cremation services for all unclaimed bodies from a private provider and will be developing a County operated transport service.”
Tarrant County also agreed to end its contract with UNTHSC within days of the release of the investigation.
Recent reports show unclaimed bodies, including veterans, were used for research without consent in TX. This is unconscionable! Last session, I filed SB 2517 to protect the dignity of the deceased. I’ll be calling for further investigation of this issue and will be refiling…
— Senator Tan Parker (@TanParkerTX) September 22, 2024
In October, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court unanimously adopted a new policy that includes additional steps officials will take to attempt to find living relatives of the deceased. If all efforts to contact a next of kin are unsuccessful, the county will cremate or bury bodies. Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said the change came after the county was “now in a position to do things ethically.”
The policy introduces new accountability measures such as charging the county Department of Human Services with aiding in making contact with families when a body is identified. Additionally, before a body can be referred to the county as unclaimed, officials must either file an affidavit with the county clerk that states they are unable to identify the individual’s next living relative; make three attempts on three different days to contact the family by any method; or make the determination that living relatives cannot afford to or will not accept responsibility for the body.
UNTHSC Ends Controversial Program
Another development that occurred within days of the investigation’s publication was UNTHSC’s decision to end the unclaimed bodies program. The decision came after school leadership was granted access to the documents uncovered by NBC News reporters during their investigation, Center President Sylvia Trent-Adams said in an email to faculty and students.
The documents also revealed “deficiencies in leadership, standards of respect and care, and professionalism exhibited,” the email said. A statement posted to the university’s website revealed that some of the program’s key leaders had been terminated following the findings.
“The program has fallen short of the standards of respect, care, and professionalism that we demand. The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth extends its deepest apologies to the families who have been impacted,” the statement said.
Lawmakers Taking a Look
Last week, North Texas Congressional Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Marc Veasey voiced their own concerns about the program in a letter sent to the Dallas and Tarrant County Medical Examiners. The letter states that while policy changes inspired by the NBC investigation are “welcome,” they are not an entirely adequate response.
The letter presents a list of questions about the safeguards in place at each office to prevent unclaimed bodies from being mishandled and requests documentation that could further reveal the level of failure each office demonstrated in handling unclaimed remains.
“[Policy changes] do not erase the pain and grief thousands of families are feeling as a result of the failures detailed in the investigation by NBC, nor do they ensure that proper safeguards are now in place to prevent the unapproved cremation of individuals or veterans who may [have] readily contactable next of kin,” the letter states.
Recently, @NBCNews published a disturbing report on unclaimed bodies in North Texas donated for medical research without consent of families.
Today, we sent a letter to Dallas & Tarrant County Medical Examiners asking for answers on their policies regarding unclaimed bodies. https://t.co/XmtXvLzBsd pic.twitter.com/VMWQNMfmzd
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) October 23, 2024
A response to the inquiries is required by Nov. 30.
State Sen. Tan Parker, whose district includes parts of both Tarrant and Dallas counties, also weighed in on the “unconscionable” policies outlined in the NBC Investigation. On social media, Parker stated he intends to reintroduce legislation that would add regulations to the human body acquisition industry. Parker first tried to introduce regulations through S.B. 2517 in the last session.
Parker told NBC News that he supports the use of bodies for medical research and advancement, but he was “outraged and completely just disgusted” to learn about the scale of the UNTHSC program.
“Human life is sacred and needs to always be protected, and that is a core principle to me,” Parker said.
