Professional Negligence Law Reporter
Medicine
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Mishandled corpses
July/August 2020Phoenix’s Biological Resource Center, Inc., represented that cadavers donated to the organization would be used for medical and scientific research. In 2014, an FBI investigation led to the discovery that cadavers donated to Biomedical Resource Center had been dismembered and sold for various other purposes, such as ballistics and crash tests.
Ten plaintiffs whose loved ones’ cadavers were donated to Biomedical Resource Center from 2010 to 2014 sued its owner, Stephen Gore, alleging negligent mishandling of remains. The plaintiffs alleged that the bodies were obtained through false statements, including assertions that they would be treated with dignity and respect.
The jury awarded $58.5 million, including $50 million in punitive damages.
Citation: Bonnes v. Biological Res. Ctr., Inc., No. CV2015-013391 (Ariz. Super. Ct. Maricopa Cty. Nov. 19, 2019).
Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Michael S. Burg, David K. TeSelle, and Holly Baer Kammerer, all of Englewood, Colo.; and AAJ member Paul Friedman, Phoenix.
