Infected Body Parts

The use of unsuspected infected body parts in transplants is a real possibility, especially since federal prosecuters arrested several people for illegal procurement and sales of cadaver tissue.

Tissue from these body parts which may be infected can be used in a variety of transplant procedures, including bone and skin grafts. Those arrested are suspected of forging documents and replacing stolen bone tissue with pipes. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have processes to ensure body parts for transplant use are not infected, but criminals can find ways to circumvent the rules, according to an attorney familiar with the law.

It is when these guidelines are not followed and there are no medical precautions taken to ensure that the body parts are free from infection that recipients are most at risk. There have been several reports of people receiving transplant from the stolen body parts, most recently in Oklahoma, but no one knows for sure if the material was infected.

The transplanting of muscle, skin and bone tissue is common and trade in body parts is legal, as long as certain conditions are met to make sure the tissue is not infected.