DONATING DEAD BODIES TO MEDICAL COLLEGE:
Of late many old couples whose children stay abroad and are not
interested in Hindu culture of last rites of their parents have decided to
donate their dead bodies to medical colleges. There are many legal and
financial aspects involved in this new mode of donating the dead body.
First, lots of money is saved by the party, plus no formalities of
throwing ashes at Allahabad.The point here is when the person is dead his rights
on his body ceases to exist. His or her son or daughter or relatives can decide
further plan of action. Now a day’s people are living longer with diseased and
cancerous bodies hence the medical students will not find a normal anatomy in
the dead bodies because it’s fit for pathological laboratories not anatomy
dissection halls?
With
3D images the dissection system will be obsolete very soon. So where we stand?
Knees are artificial, heart with pacemakers and stents and by pass would not
have the normal anatomy for the first MBBS students. There are millions of
Indian undergoing dialysis and have under gone kidney transplants, in that case
what student would learn?
There are two
vested interests in donating bodies. One the celebrities show their greatness
and poor and middle class people save money. Coming to donation of eye its only
the corneas which are used nothing else but lay public think it’s the whole eye
which is implanted and a blind man could see the world once again. With rise in
macular degeneration the blind population is totally helpless.
This article is not to dissuade people not to donate body but
should realize the basic facts of body donation. The fumes from dead bodies are
highly carcinogenic, that we must remember.
Sanjoy Kumar Satpathy
Ex-Joint Director-SAIL
