What happens when you donate your body to science | Hacker News Reader

What happens when you donate your body to science

technologyreview.com

39 pointsgmays17 comments

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-army-bl...

>"Jim Stauffer donated mum's corpse for medical use - only to find it had been passed to the military for so-called blast-testing"

Your link and the posted one about body farms reminds me of the ethical questions raised by an article published in 2007 that got significant coverage: a professor of Medical Ethics, Anesthesia, and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School discussed openly the differences between brain death and heart death, and what that means for organ transplants (for example: some people administer anesthesia to the donating body just in case). It got traction outside the normal readership because... a lot of people didn't know.

[Are links to sci-hub ok here? 'Brain Death - Too Flawed to Endure, Too Ingrained to Abandon' by Robert D. Truog, Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Summer 2007, https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2007....]

In my area, you can indicate that you want to be an organ donor on your drivers license. It's a check box. But can you fully understand your decision at the DMV office, and can you fully contain your wishes within a check box?

Similarly with the posted links: informed consent is important, even if that means fewer volunteers.

I seriously considered taking myself off the donor list when I learned that it might subject me to vivisection. But ultimately I decided I wouldn't be willing to turn down being the recipient of an organ donation, so it's a risk I now accept. Anesthetizing donors should be made standard practice though.

I also considered removing myself from the donor list after reading about live vivisection a while back. But, I looked up how to remove oneself as a donor and couldn’t find any information.

Also, I renewed my license recently and did not mark that I wanted to be a donor, and it stated that I was one on my new license nonetheless.

I am still undecided on the subject because I would like to donate organs to people in need when the time comes, so it doesn’t bother me too much.

It depends on the state of course, but in Washington you can visit a Drivers Licensing Office to update your donation status and get a new card (which is free, if you're only changing your donation status.)

> it might subject me to vivisection

I’m having trouble finding anything about this. Do you have any references. This is a bit terrifying!

It's in this article: https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2007....

https://archive.ph/L11v2

(Unfortunately the aggressive ads, video ads, and registration requirement make the article unreadable)

Maybe I'll donate mine to Computer Science instead!

First batch of brains in vats let's gooo

Arooooooo

Most likely you’ll just another cadaver for a medical student to study. That’s not a bad thing just that chances are you’re not going to be a contribution to some major scientific research.

I'd be perfectly satisfied with my corpse getting dissected. I've met the med students who've done that, seen how much it affected them, and heard how they treated the bodies.

I have also seen firsthand the other things that happen to donated corpses -- the pile of skeletonized legs in the corner connecting dust, for example -- and I can safely say I will never ever ever donate my body in this state.

I know at least a couple of cases similar to this one https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57748122

So maybe it’s not a good idea.

I much prefer to have my remains buried as god has intended.

>> What happens when you donate your body to science

You get told "Sorry you're too fat", https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33216253

This is what happens: https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/madrid/20140519/544080759...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com