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The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas Scandal

Health officials in numerous states as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are tremendously worried about the gruesome tale of stolen body parts, missing persons, contaminated human tissue grafts, and the possibility that thousands of innocent patients are currently in danger of developing everything from HIV/AIDS and syphilis to hepatitis B and C.

On October 11, 2005 The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas issued a voluntary recall of all materials that were manufactured from BioMedical Tissue Services (BTS) donor tissue. Blood and tissue centers are accountable for the collection and distribution of blood, bone, tendons, skin, and heart valves for the purpose of improving the quality of life for transplant recipients by preventing amputation, restoring mobility, relieving pain and saving lives.

The untested body parts and tissue scandal centers around Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS), which allegedly acquired body parts without donor permission and sold them for use in transplants performed at hospitals and other medical facilities throughout the United States. The owner and three other employees of Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) have been indicted in Brooklyn, New York for taking body parts without legal consent and without proper screening. It is believed that funeral home operators accepted money from Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) in exchange for ignoring obviously forged death certificates and consent forms. The body parts and tissue in question have been distributed throughout the country and used in thousands of operations.

Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) sold these illegal body parts to several large companies including Lifecell Corp., Regeneration Technologies, Inc., Tutogen Medical, Inc., and Lost Mountain Tissue Bank. The FDA and most of the companies involved have not disclosed the number of patients that received the untested parts and tissue.

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