Body donation scandal: 24 complaints filed, ten more could follow

Twenty-four families have filed a complaint in the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office for "attack on the integrity of a corpse" aimed at the conditions of preservation of bodies in a specialized center of the University of Paris-Descartes, a- we learned this Friday from concordant sources.

Body donation scandal: 24 complaints filed, ten more could follow

Twenty-four families have filed a complaint in the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office for "attack on the integrity of a corpse" aimed at the conditions of preservation of bodies in a specialized center of the University of Paris-Descartes, a- we learned this Friday from concordant sources. At least a dozen more could still follow, the sources said.

"These are complaints against X for attacking the integrity of a corpse", the chiefs being already targeted by the investigation, indicated Laurence Dezélée, one of the complainants.

An article in L'Express published at the end of November denounced the "indecent conditions" for the preservation of the remains of "thousands of people who have donated their bodies to science".

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"In dilapidated premises, the center's malfunctions and management problems had a terrible consequence: putrefied remains, eaten away by mice, to such an extent that some had to be cremated without being able to be dissected", reported L'Express. , depicting stacked bodies.

Following this article, an investigation was opened by the public health department of the prosecution and entrusted to the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against the person (BRDP).

READ ALSO >> Body donation scandal: families come together for a collective complaint

According to Laurence Dezélée, "the families have come together in a collective and are thinking about forming an association". They are also planning a demonstration at the end of February in front of the Center for the donation of bodies in Paris, since closed administratively by order of the Minister of Research. An inspection mission was launched by the University.

In January, the Senate passed a government amendment to the bioethics bill aimed at regulating the conditions for donating the body to science.