Bone transplant has a Green Country woman concerned

Thursday, February 23rd 2006, 8:59 pm

By: News On 6

The owner of a New York bio-medical company and three other men are charged with carving up cadavers from New York funeral homes. They're accused of selling the bone and skin for transplants.

A 122 count indictment accuses the men of forging death certificates and organ donor consent forms to make it look like the body parts were harvested legally.

The body parts were sold by Biomedical Tissue Services of New Jersey to unsuspecting tissue suppliers. That has a Green Country woman concerned.

The body parts have been tracked to several states where they were used in transplants.

Susan Fisher had a cadaver bone put into her neck during surgery last April. "You're walking around wondering what's inside me? And who did it come from?"

Fisher says she'll have to undergo a series of blood tests, because she's concerned some body parts weren't properly screened for disease. The FDA insists the risk is minimal.

The men charged in the case pleaded not guilty.