Dozens of human heads found in US flight cargo

[jandajoy]

I find this most weird and strangely disturbing.


Dozens of human heads found in US flight cargo

Posted 2 hours 38 minutes ago

US air officials have found a shipment of 40 to 60 human heads in plastic containers sealed with duct tape in a Southwest Airlines cargo facility.

Southwest spokeswoman Ashley Rogers said the heads were found after employees opened the package because it was "not labelled properly".

The employees who found the heads then contacted the local police, who turned the heads over to the local coroner.

"They were basically in plastic containers with lids that are not air sealed," Coroner Garland Camper said.

"They were duct taped with minimal information to disclose what was inside."

The heads were on their way to the Medtronic facility, a medical device company in Texas.
Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry says the heads are for educational training for neurosurgeons studying ear, nose and throat procedures.

He says the company had ordered four heads and 40 skull parts - the portion of the head with the ear.

"In this particular instance they were going to be used for educational training, which is routinely and commonly done," he said.

Mr Henry says it is not uncommon for heads used for research and educational training to be shipped commercially.

"It's a common practice ... [but] this is a very uncommon result," he said.

The coroner says the paperwork for the shipment did not meet the correct description of the specimens.

"We've got some discrepancies there," Mr Camper said.

He says he wants to confirm that the heads are not being shipped as part of a black market for human body parts.

"We definitely want to make sure this is not a part of something like that," he said.

He says he has never encountered a case like this in his career as a coroner.

- Reuters


http://abc.com.au/news/stories/2010/...section=justin

[Nawty]

nothing to lose your head over JJ

[ENT]

Someone's lost face here.

[jandajoy]

nothing to lose your head over JJ

Agreed. But, whose heads were they?

Where did they come from?

[mediamanbkk]

I nearly laughed my head off when I read this

[misskit]

My guess would be that the heads came from people who designated their bodies to be donated to science upon death. Many driver's licenses in the States have a donor indication. One can give organs or whole body. Some companies collect these bodies from hospitals and funeral homes, then send them to medical schools, research facilities, etc.

Sounds like somebody did a bad job of shipment. Yuck.

[Nawty]

Did it make headlines in the US ?

[Nawty]

Bet the head of the company is embarrassed.

[Nawty]

I'll head off now.

[Camel Toe]

Who actually whacks them off? What do you suppose the wage might be? I wonder if they're hiring.

[FailSafe]

Southwest is probably working on a way to charge their families for the flight- I hate airlines.

[Mr R Sole]

40-60 heads.....well which is it??? 40 or 60....that's a big difference...

The company from Texas had ordered 4 swedes and 40 parts of swedes with the lughole!!! I can understand that medical research is needed and the dead don't complain...pretty good of people to donate their noggins...as many people are funny about stuff like that..even organ donation..

However, 40-60 swedes badly packaged on a commercial flight....that strikes me as either extremely sloppy and disrespectful or very dodgy indeed...

Wonder if like many stories we will hear the actual outcome????

Was this one of them???



or maybe this one??

[Jools]

Puts a new spin on the term "giving head"

[Ripley]

My guess would be that the heads came from people who designated their bodies to be donated to science upon death. Many driver's licenses in the States have a donor indication. One can give organs or whole body. Some companies collect these bodies from hospitals and funeral homes, then send them to medical schools, research facilities, etc.

Sounds like somebody did a bad job of shipment. Yuck.

This is one argument why one should NOT have "organ donor" on their ID. It has been suggested in some cases, not all was done that could've been for the patient in order to harvest organs.

It is big business but organs within heads in unsealed, unrefrigerated (?) plastic containers wuld hardly be used for transplants, only research. Yech!

[taxexile]

unrefrigerated

probably been treated with formalin to preserve them.

only research. Yech!

research that gives neurosurgeons the skills to treat brain tumours and head injuries.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ And practice pieces for plastic surgeons.

[slackula]

Were they carrion?

[jandajoy]

Were they carrion?

Best yet.

[zygote1]

My guess would be that the heads came from people who designated their bodies to be donated to science upon death. Many driver's licenses in the States have a donor indication. One can give organs or whole body. Some companies collect these bodies from hospitals and funeral homes, then send them to medical schools, research facilities, etc.

Sounds like somebody did a bad job of shipment. Yuck.

This is one argument why one should NOT have "organ donor" on their ID. It has been suggested in some cases, not all was done that could've been for the patient in order to harvest organs.

It is big business but organs within heads in unsealed, unrefrigerated (?) plastic containers wuld hardly be used for transplants, only research. Yech!

No. You have it wrong. Organ donation is VERY different than leaving a body to science. Organs are harvested right after the donor's death. The organ is fresh packed and transported under escort if it is shipped off. Live organs have a limited "shelf life". The urban and internet myths that abound of people in western countries being sacrificed do a disservice to the beneficiaries of the organs. Thousands of people's lives have been saved because of the generosity of organ donors in the west. Children can see because of corneal transplants. Teenagers and young adults can have their lives back once they receive a new kidney or heart. When people donate organs they give the gift of life that just might benefit your family and friends.

Universities that receive bodies, treat the bodies in accordance with a strict code of ethics. I recall one kid in an anatomy class at our uni that stuck a pencil in a body's hand. He was tossed from the course and I believe he received a fail.

My understanding is that body parts are harvested from sources in Mexico, India and China. However, you need a lot of paperwork to import them into the USA. Judging from the way the goods were shipped, someone screwed up big time and just might have been trying to do an end run around the FDA, as well as the transportation regulators. It is illegal to ship body parts unless declared, properly packaged and labeled as such.

[Camel Toe]

Nice copy/paste. Good job peppering in your own entries.

He's a doctor! He's a lawyer! He's Super Surat the GM Club Bar Fly.

[billy the kid]

how to fit a new face on ugly muthers.
part 1.
transplants will be a big earner .

[BobR]

Since the shipment was for a legal and legitimate reason, Southwest Airlines really owes these people an apology and some compensation for the embarrassment their stupid actions caused. They could have checked the facts and the identities of the customers before calling in the morons in blue. These medical suppliers have good reason for being pissed at this airline and the "push the panic button first" type mentality of stupidity that has engulfed commercial aviation, especially in America. I hope some idiot loses his job behind this. Sadly the publication of this nothing story may cause fewer people to donate their bodies for medical research after their death. Yes, I am a registered organ donor.

Maybe brain transplants will be next. There are many candidates in need of one.

[BobR]

Who actually whacks them off? What do you suppose the wage might be? I wonder if they're hiring.

Ever seen an autopsy done? I saw several when I was an attorney. The doctors who do it might as well be tearing down a car engine to see why it failed for all the emotion they show. Not that they are not respectful, or not competent, they just are past seeing bodies as anything more than work waiting to be done.

[nevets]

Thanks for the heads up JJ.

[billy the kid]

i thought specific organs were donated .
not your fokin head.