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Cincinnati Museum Center website not clear about body origins

I’m reading the FAQ for the Bodies the Exhibition on the museum website.

Where do the specimens come from?
A: All of the specimens in this Exhibition were obtained thorough the Dalian Medical University plastination laboratories in the People’s Republic of China. China has a large and highly competent group of anatomists and dissectors, who are essential to properly preparing these specimens for exhibition and educational purposes.

Will we know who the body specimens are? How did they die?
A: The identity and the cause of death of the anatomical specimens are never revealed to the public. Law requires that only the initial authorized recipient — Dalian Medical University — have this information, and it may not be disclosed to any third party. Premier Exhibitions obtained the bodies from Dalian Medical University, which has established itself as a leader in the process of plastination. Dalian is an internationally recognized medical university that is governed by the World Health Organization.

Notice how the FAQ neatly skirts around the fact that Premier obtains “unclaimed bodies” from the government and uses them without their consent.  Premier will state this when pressed.  The Cincinnati Museum Center isn’t proactive in telling people the whole truth when they visit the exhibit.  This is pretty shady.

I’m surprised at the number of people that believe that these bodies were actually donated bodies.  But it’s not even possible, since Premier Exhibitions does NOT use donated bodies.  They won’t take you even if you want them to.

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2 Comments

  • Reply CityKin February 1, 2008 at 9:58 am

    Would you be opposed to the exhibit if the people had given their consent before death?
    I read a story somewhere about the lack of Down’s Syndrome in China, because the children are typically killed at birth by the doctor. That, combined with the Chinese lack of personal liberty makes me very wary of this exhibit.

  • Reply MT February 1, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    The consent issue is what got me involved in this. But, I think that it still has problems with human dignity. Posing and education don’t mix well for me. You wouldn’t pose a corpse that you’re dissecting for med school, so why would you pose a body with any object.

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