Dead Man Is Too Fat For Science: Fair or Foul?

by mrosen814 Posted 2012/08/02 20:00:00

Related Topics: Health, Science, George Cardel, Weird News

797 votes
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	Fair	306 votes	38%
	Foul	491 votes	62%

59-year-old George Cardel from Queens wanted to donate his body to science after he died. But a medical school crushed his final wish by not accepting his corpse, due to its... er... large size.

Even worse, "the 59-year-old man’s body wasn’t returned for 13 days — so badly decomposed it required cremation." Former New York City chief medical examiner Michael Baden said it’s not surprising that a medical school would turn down an obese corpse. Baden goes onto say, “an obese person would be harder to dissect because of the amount of fat tissue under the skin."

NYDAILYNEWS.COM reports:
George Cardel’s final wish died with him — doomed by his hefty 300-pound frame. The Queens mechanical engineer had hoped to donate his body to science, but that dream was dashed when a medical school rejected his corpse because of its girth, a $2 million lawsuit claims.

+23

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KeeganTheAwesome 2012/08/03 00:09:31 (edited)

Foul

+23

Shame on the school for keeping the body for so long without even trying to preserve it... and after rejecting it too! Most coroners don't keep bodies in their offices for that long without chilling them and replacing the blood with preservatives to keep the bacteria at bay. Heck, I even bet the U.S. prison system sends dead prisoners back to their families sooner than that, and with their bodies preserved too.

Shame on them, also, for (more than likely) disadvantaging students by not teaching them how to deal with fat bodies. Let's just hope every body that lands on these students' surgery/autopsy tables is thin as a twig, if the school isn't going to do anything about their curriculum's flaws.
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flaca BN-0 to Common ... 2012/08/04 21:54:11

but do glandular problems go so far in Americans that explain that America is the fattest nation on the planet?

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Common ... to flaca BN-0 2012/08/06 01:23:39

To me, the glandular problem is about 99% fake and nothing more than a crutch for someone that is obese or way over weight. Sure, some people do have a glandular problem, but it is 100% fact, that if you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. And if you eat those calories with good foods, you'll not only continue to lose weight, but you'll feel better doing it.

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Cat to Common ... 2012/08/03 21:37:46

tell that to the wheelchair bound quadriplegic.

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Common ... to Cat 2012/08/06 01:24:23

What would you like for me to tell a wheelchair quadriplegic?

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La to Corsair 2012/08/02 23:22:42

Maybe the medical school was not doing a study of that type at the time....I'm sure if they had any use for him at all, they would have kept him....

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Cat to La 2012/08/03 21:43:39

There are plenty of other med schools, especially in the Northeast.

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Sodahead Founders are Fascists 2012/08/02 22:09:45

Fair

+2
that would be an endorsement of the most deviant and abominable lifestyle choice.

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Cat to Sodahea... 2012/08/03 21:44:52

And what deviant lifestyle would that be, Gol Garak?

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Sodahea... to Cat 2012/08/04 10:20:39

Stuffing your face like a pig.

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flaca BN-0 2012/08/02 22:05:17

Fair

+6
He didn't fit in their coolers.

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lee to flaca BN-0 2012/08/02 22:53:20

+1
that's what saws are for.

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Inquisi... to lee 2012/08/02 23:17:20

+1
Best comment I read all day, on any question.

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Cat to Inquisi... 2012/08/03 21:46:53

You need to read more.

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Cat to flaca BN-0 2012/08/03 21:46:14

Within 13 days they should have found a med school with a bigger cooler ;-D

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Tennessee3501 2012/08/02 22:02:29

Foul

+1
They should have made a decision on this much faster! How cruel! If those are his real feet, they do not look fat!

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Cat to Tenness... 2012/08/03 21:50:00 (edited)

+1
If those are real feet,and they obviously are, their owner is still alive as shown by the even blood circulation visible in all the toes. Blood pools up at the lowest points after the heart stops pumping it. The photo is staged; notice that the toe tag is blank.

I was an EMT for quite awhile. I have seen death often.

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Tenness... to Cat 2012/08/03 22:59:02

Thank you. I thought something looked strange!

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flyingseaturtle BN 2012/08/02 21:55:19

Foul

+1
They should have been quicker to reject him.

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Sintwa 2012/08/02 21:51:45

Fair

+4
Wouldn't be as practical for the students I suppose.

But letting it decompose is a bit of a jerk move.

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Texas Johnny 2012/08/02 21:48:09

Foul

+5
If the country is as fat as the "experts" are saying, I'd think it would be beneficial for those future doctors to practice on a fat cadaver. So it has more tissue to cut through, I'd think a doctor might need those skills in the future. What would be the reaction if the cadaver was rejected because it was black? This is the last great prejudice left in America. If you were gay and black , you'd be accepted far faster than if you were just plain fat!

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☆WillThompson☆ 2012/08/02 21:38:07

Fair

+4
It is the medical schools choice to refuse the body, taking their time after the rejection was unfortunate. Also, I would think that since their is a rise in obesity that it would be good for medical students to actually work with cadavers the are obese to better learn and then express to patients how they actually saw how excess fat attaches to the body, and organs, and blood vessels. Just a thought.

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George Romney 2012/08/02 21:33:03

Foul

+9
God forbid these doctors in training would have to operate on an obese man at some point in their careers. Because that's so rare in America...

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ben to George ... 2012/08/02 23:21:54

+1
They're still in training. Imagine getting a new video game with strange controls and being forced to play on the hardest difficulty. You learn by doing, but you don't learn to walk by putting on stilts.

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BifDaddy to ben 2012/08/03 00:15:19

Exactly.

Are these med students going to be selective in the patients they treat on they graduate and refuse to treat obese individuals?

They need to learn on all physiques.

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Inquisi... to George ... 2012/08/02 23:22:01

I think the problem, however, is that when a body is donated to science, they only have a limited time to work with that body... so while an obese cadaver might be helpful in providing some information, it might not have been helpful for what they needed at that moment.

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BifDaddy to Inquisi... 2012/08/03 00:11:54

That’s why morgues are equipped with freezers.

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Anonymo... to George ... 2012/08/02 23:45:37

+1
It would have cost twice as much - it costs a lot more to perform surgery on fat people, they should have had to get a bigger freezer, etc.

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Sister Jean 2012/08/02 21:20:19

Fair

+6
world has gone nuts

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Common ... to Sister ... 2012/08/02 22:46:08

+4
I know, a $2 million lawsuit because of rejecting a fat man. Just terrible.

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Cat to Common ... 2012/08/03 21:55:41

Law suits are like pawn shops, you seldom get your asking price.

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Common ... to Cat 2012/08/06 01:25:26

There shouldn't be a lawsuit.

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Erik Dean 2012/08/02 21:12:54

Fair

+4
they have entry requirements. Letting it decompose is slightly questionable.

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Cat to Erik Dean 2012/08/03 21:56:14

Slightly eh?

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