China’s Corpses Sold to Companies! Unbelievable!!

China’s Corpses Sold to Companies! Unbelievable!

KAKALI DAS

In China, a startling scandal has emerged involving the illicit trade of human corpses. Over 4,000 bodies, which were supposed to be cremated, were covertly sold to two major biomaterial companies with links to the state.

The corpses were then dissected and converted into bone grafting materials, generating millions of dollars in revenue over an eight-year period.

The scheme, which involved funeral homes, doctors, and a state-owned enterprise, has revealed a disturbing facet of China’s medical industry.

In Northern China, prosecutors have uncovered a troubling decade-long scheme involving the illegal sale of corpses intended for cremation. Spanning at least seven provinces, the scheme has implicated dozens of suspects, including funeral home managers, doctors, and company shareholders.

“A staff member at the Anatomy Department of Guilin Medical University acquired at least 450 corpses from three of these funeral homes, paying approximately $125 per body. The bodies were subsequently sold to Shanxi Osteorad for as much as $1,400 each.”

At the heart of this shocking case are two companies—Shanxi Osteorad Biomaterial Co. and Sichuan Hengpu Technology. Between 2015 and 2023, these companies illegally acquired over 4,000 corpses, generating nearly $53 million in revenue.

The cadavers were sourced from funeral homes across various regions, then dissected, stored, and ultimately processed into biomaterial devices used in bone grafting procedures.

The medical industry uses bone grafting to repair injuries like severe fractures. Bone tissue can be sourced from the patient (an autograft), but due to potential complications, it is more commonly harvested from cadavers (an allograft) with donor consent and under strict regulatory oversight.

The scheme extended beyond the companies, with funeral homes in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, as well as in the Chongqing municipality, playing a crucial role.

These funeral homes charged families for cremation services but instead sold the corpses to hospitals for dissection and storage. In some cases, unclaimed bodies were also selected for the illegal trade.

A staff member at the Anatomy Department of Guilin Medical University acquired at least 450 corpses from three of these funeral homes, paying approximately $125 per body. The bodies were subsequently sold to Shanxi Osteorad for as much as $1,400 each.

In another case, a transplant surgeon at the affiliated hospital of Qingdao University handled and sold at least 10 bodies to the company, earning between $1,400 and $3,000 per corpse.

Shanxi Osteorad staff not only mishandled the cadavers but also falsified the necessary documentation to conceal their actions. This enabled them to evade the stringent regulatory oversight typically required for the use of cadaveric tissue in medical procedures.

Shanxi Osteorad, founded in 1999, is a subsidiary of the China Institute for Radiation Protection in Taiyuan, which is part of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. headquartered in Beijing.

It is one of the country’s largest providers of bone grafts and substitutes, operating in a market projected to be worth half a billion dollars by the end of the decade. Its largest shareholder also owns Sichuan Hengpu, a medical devices manufacturer.

Shanxi Osteorad was accused of forging donor agreements to produce allogeneic bone implant material for use in treating Chinese patients. Prosecutors also alleged that its staff mistreated the cadavers.

The scandal emerged in September 2023 when China’s national audit office began investigating irregular earnings of a faculty member at Guilin Teaching Hospital. This investigation uncovered the broader scheme, leading authorities to seize over 34,000 biomaterial products, at least 18 tons of semi-finished goods, nearly 16 properties, and at least 29 vehicles connected to the illegal trade.

As of last week, Chinese prosecutors confirmed that all 75 suspects involved in the scheme have admitted to their roles. Additionally, a lawyer who exposed the nationwide trade in stolen and dismembered corpses has been removed from his position as director of a Beijing law firm.

The exposure of this decade-long scheme highlights a troubling aspect of China’s medical industry. Although the use of cadaveric tissue in medical procedures is common, it is usually governed by strict ethical guidelines and donor consent.

The illegal trade of bodies in this case not only violated these principles but also exploited grieving families and unclaimed deceased individuals.

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