University Donates Human Remains to Navy for Military Training Exercises

USC Donates Bodies to Train Israeli Military Surgeons

A recent investigation by USC students and AJ+ uncovered information about the university’s donation of human cadavers to train Israeli military surgeons. Miriam Volpin, a medical case manager from Nevada, received a disturbing message after learning that her 101-year-old mother, Jeanette, had donated her body to USC in 2021.

Volpin’s mother had died and arranged for her body to be used for education and scientific research at USC. However, Volpin now fears that her mother’s remains may have been among those used to train surgical teams for conflicts like Israel’s war on Gaza.

The investigation revealed that USC has supplied at least 89 fresh cadavers since 2018 as part of agreements with the US Navy and Israeli military personnel. Records show that these donations were made under a four-day “combat trauma surgery skills course” offered to forward surgical teams in the Israeli military.

According to a 2020 medical paper, the donated bodies were “reanimated” using perfusion, a method that involves pumping fake blood through the body to make it as lifelike as possible. The training included simulated combat injuries such as gunshot wounds and blasts from improvised explosive devices.

USC did not respond to requests for comment about which injuries were simulated on the cadavers or how. The US Navy stated that the simulated injuries were produced using “surgical” techniques, while several trauma surgeons said that using perfused cadavers is typically reserved for highly specialized training.

Available federal contracts show that USC has sold cadavers to the US Navy for the Israeli military programme since 2018. However, it appears that the university turned to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) for help in recent years due to the high demand for bodies.

The investigation found that the majority of donor bodies for the training programme came from USC and UCSD. The student journalists who broke the story have taken their investigation further, but more information about the Israeli military contracts remains limited.

Source: Al Jazeera