Legal News

Cuomo?s Office, Exhibitor, Reach Settlement Over Origin of ?Bodies?

By Ashby Jones

We found the “Bodies… the Exhibition” show fascinating, if a bit creepy. The show, on display at the South Street Seaport here in Manhattan, contains room after room of preserved cadavers, cut up and stripped down so as to reveal practically every inch of the human body — muscles, blood vessels, lymph nodes, the whole deal.

While walking through the exhibit last spring, never did we give any thought to the provenance of the bodies themselves. But that’s the topic of a settlement unveiled Thursday between Premier Exhibitions, the owner of the the show, and New York AG Andrew Cuomo’s office. As part of the settlement, Premiere admitted that it could not prove the bodies used were not those of prisoners in China who may have been tortured or executed. The company promised refunds to those who paid to see the exhibit. Here are stories from the NYT and Bloomberg.

The settlement came after an investigation into the origin of the cadavers and body parts used in the exhibit.

Under the terms of the settlement, the exhibit cannot obtain new bodies without documentation proving the individual’s identity, cause of death and consent for the body to be displayed, a requirement that may slow or end the importation of bodies from China. The exhibit must also display a statement explaining that it is not able to confirm that the bodies being displayed were not Chinese prisoners who may have been victims of torture and execution, the attorney general’s office said.

“Respect for the dead and respect for the public requires that Premier do more than simply assure us that there is no reason for concern,” Cuomo said. “This settlement is a start.”

A lawyer for Premier said that the company’s independent investigation of the whole bodies on display found no signs of abuse. In cases where parts of a body are displayed, the condition of the rest of that cadaver is unknown, the lawyer said.

“They inspect and examine the specimens to look for any evidence of trauma or bodily injury associated with torture or execution,” said Brian Wainger, the lawyer. “They have never seen such evidence.”

Photo: AP

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 30, 2008 (boomark / email).