10/29/2012, 9:17 am
Medical Examiner keeps thousands of brains for 'tests' families call needless
The city Medical Examiner's Office has kept the brains of more than 9,200 deceased New Yorkers — from the elderly to newborns — in the past eight years, records obtained by The Post show.
The stunning revelation comes as three families publicly question whether the city is yanking brains so rookie pathologists can “practice,” for scientists' experiments, or for no good reason at all.
“Vasean's organs were removed for ‘testing' without any investigative or medical necessity,” charges a suit by the family of Vasean Alleyne, an 11-year-old Queens boy killed by a drunken driver. Months after his burial, his mom was shocked to read in the autopsy report that her son's brain and spinal cord had been taken.
Brooklyn mom Cindy Bradshaw was stunned to learn she had buried her stillborn son, Gianni, without his brain. The ME kept it — though an autopsy found his death was caused by an abnormality in her umbilical cord and placenta.
“Do they really want to know what happened to the person, or are they just experimenting?” Bradshaw asked.
“The death had nothing to do with the brain,” said her lawyer, Daniel Flanzig. “It's unconscionable — and unlawful — for the Medical Examiner not to return it to the family for a complete burial.”
Others suspect organs are used as a training tool.
Anybody seen Ivan? Anybody?
