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
Read all 433 opinions
Lightning Report View Results and Demographics + View Demographics

Loading Demographics... Click an icon to see demographic results Display unknown and private
	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

Add a comment above

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.
>> See Replies

More polls by mrosen814

SilveryRow 2012/08/03 14:10:47

Foul

+1
They could use him for obesity study after all.

reply
SYLVIA ... to SilveryRow 2012/08/03 14:57:28

That is my thoughts also. We need to know why some people can eat anything they want and the rest of us has to stay on diets and still be overweight.
All you can get from the doctor is that we eat too many calories.
I know for a fact that my friend would eat anything she wants and weight 100# and i watched every thing i ate and weight 180#

reply
FatherL... to SYLVIA ... 2012/08/03 15:32:37 (edited)

Well, first thing first, metabolism. People must remain consistently active and eat a balanced and portioned diet to keep their metabolism working properly. Thyroid health is another major issue in the US. A majority of people in the US have decreased thyroid functions from an overload of toxic products. The thyroid gland produces two kinds of hormones: T3 and T4. Some of the T4 is changed to T3 in various organs after leaving the thyroid. The T3 stimulates the body to burn fat. People have different rates at which they can change T4 to T3, and this may lead to differences in body fat among different people. It is reported that nearly a quarter of Americans have thyroid disorders. One cause for this is fluoride in the water supply, which has been directly linked to decreased thyroid function. Most people concerned about weight consume diet products, which will typically increase fat. The replacement sugars in diet products are some of the most damaging products on the market. They typically interfer with normal bodily functions and decrease the bodies ability for burning fats and processing energy. Also, people watching weight typically remove fat from their diet. What they dont understand is when you remove fat your body can not absorb the nutrients it needs. The body uses ...

Well, first thing first, metabolism. People must remain consistently active and eat a balanced and portioned diet to keep their metabolism working properly. Thyroid health is another major issue in the US. A majority of people in the US have decreased thyroid functions from an overload of toxic products. The thyroid gland produces two kinds of hormones: T3 and T4. Some of the T4 is changed to T3 in various organs after leaving the thyroid. The T3 stimulates the body to burn fat. People have different rates at which they can change T4 to T3, and this may lead to differences in body fat among different people. It is reported that nearly a quarter of Americans have thyroid disorders. One cause for this is fluoride in the water supply, which has been directly linked to decreased thyroid function. Most people concerned about weight consume diet products, which will typically increase fat. The replacement sugars in diet products are some of the most damaging products on the market. They typically interfer with normal bodily functions and decrease the bodies ability for burning fats and processing energy. Also, people watching weight typically remove fat from their diet. What they dont understand is when you remove fat your body can not absorb the nutrients it needs. The body uses fat to take in and store the vitamins and minerals from the foods we eat. Without the fat you will become deficient in nutrients, which then causes your body to store all the calories its brings in and burns off a minimal amount as a survival instinct, thus increasing fat development.
(more)

reply
♥K14 2012/08/03 14:10:03

Fair

+1
Nothing wrong with rejecting a fatty.

reply
Sophia0... to ♥K14 2012/08/05 04:28:54

Then nothing wrong with calling you a dick.

reply
♥K14 to Sophia0... 2012/08/05 14:55:48 (edited)

Actually, that violates the T&C..;.

reply
BongRipper 2012/08/03 14:02:45

Fair

+2
We already know the science behind fat. Kind of gross, and shamefull, that the school returned the body in terrible condition though.

reply
nneoma 2012/08/03 14:02:20

Foul

+1
This is a medical school. So when the students become doctors does that person expect all their patients to be skinny.
-smeh-
This is America......the land of MCdonalds And KFC

reply
AnneFS to nneoma 2012/08/03 14:19:56

Medical school need bodies to dissect to learn detailed anatomy. I can fully understand not needing a body where you're cutting through enormous layers of fat. Perfectly understandable decision.

reply
nneoma to AnneFS 2012/08/08 17:22:56

What your saying makes sense.... But did they really need to keep it that long. If that was the reason then they should've returned it about 3 days after. Leaving the body to rot and nit putting it in a refrigerator is plain stupidity on their part

reply
Jack's Pearl 2012/08/03 13:23:20

Fair

If a person is too heavy and they can't find use for the body because of that, it's fair. Seems reasonable to me. It's not a personal insult or anything, just a matter of fact.

reply
chrystal97 2012/08/03 13:23:14

Fair

They have a right to reject anyone. They might have 300 fat bodies and don't need any more taking up room. They shouldn't have taken so long returning the body, but the family probably didn't want to pay for a funeral when that was NEVER in the plan. We don't know why the man wasn't refrigerated and was decomposing. I also don't believe this warrants a lawsuit. Some bodies that are donated to science are left out in the elements to see how fast they decompose.

reply
Sophia0... to chrystal97 2012/08/05 04:30:29

But they rejected it, then left him, then sent him back. I don't think it was a decomp. project.

reply
chrystal97 to Sophia0... 2012/08/06 13:19:30

It wasn't, but something like that was within their rights. After medical students are through with a corpse, the corpse is unrecognizable.

reply
debhead 2012/08/03 13:17:03

Foul

Foul for keeping it so long. He should have made prior plans with a specific place to donate it. Just because iits your "wish" doesn't mean it's going to happen. If his family thinks they're going to get millions they're crazy. How greedy!

reply
Sofahead 2012/08/03 13:15:23

Foul

+1
Is how the situation was handled. Returning a corpse that had been stored so badly for 13 days that cremation was the only option.
If there is a shortage of cadavers for medical students' anatomy classes it seems rather picky about using an obese corpse, unless they were real morbidly obese. Using this body would also provide a more real world experience for the future.

reply
bettyboop to Sofahead 2012/08/03 13:50:00

+2
I totally agree with you. Not every patient will be the perfect weight and I think medical students can learn a lot about the disease process of the obese.

reply
Oaces_boss_yo® 2012/08/03 12:33:59
chris. 2012/08/03 12:11:00

Foul

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

reply
SpongeBob 2012/08/03 11:46:00 (edited)

Foul

People need to make sure they are not the one's dead. Be happy that you have a few more years to live

reply
Tella6 2012/08/03 11:32:33

Fair

+1
They shouldn't have taken 13 days to return it though.... Maybe they were trying to figure out in that time if they could use it for anything though? Maybe they didn't have a freezer big enough.. I don't know, I'm a bit undecided on this question.

reply
desperatedan 2012/08/03 11:18:57

Foul

What on earth is wrong with people today here you get someone who is kind enough to think of the future generation and leave his body to Medical science in order for the medical team to learn about disease and how to treat it and they insult the family by refusing it and do not even have the decency of returning it sooner than 13 day's why keep it that long what reason did they give and yes Fat people do have problems as well as skinny people does their decision mean that they will not accept a body because it is from a colored person or maybe even a gay person what next maybe even go as far as saying a blind person would be rejected i taught medical science would be delighted to have any body to learn from it and help out future illnesses i for one will not go ahead with my dreaming of donating my body to science now.

reply
jcadla to despera... 2012/08/03 15:25:27
Sophia0... to jcadla 2012/08/05 04:32:58

However, we can tell that you're desperate. Have a nice day, jackass~!

reply
Ben 2012/08/03 10:28:07

Foul

+1
Surely medical students need to learn about fat people as well as normal sized people?

reply
Rusty Shackleford 2012/08/03 09:39:02

Fair

If you offer to donate something that is useless to the recipient, how can you be offended when the gift is rejected?

reply
jerry.alan.carroll 2012/08/03 09:30:41

Fair

unless they specify they want a fatass, they don't have to accept it. I have known cases where they have turned down bodies. some folks make money off it so I call fair. It is a business these days.

reply
Sophia0... to jerry.a... 2012/08/05 04:33:56

I smell a fatass rat right here! Smells douchey.

reply
jerry.a... to Sophia0... 2012/08/06 10:53:09

then wash yo ass!

reply
Autumn 2012/08/03 09:19:11

Foul

+1
Lazy ass scientists.

reply
Michael S. 2012/08/03 08:38:38 (edited)

Foul

+3
There's nothing wrong with the medical school deciding they had no use for his body; if he was too large for them to do any productive research on, then he was too large for them to do any productive research on. It's sad, but it's life. (I do suspect another school or lab may have found a much better use though.)

However, it appears extremely disrespectful to me that they kept his body for 13 days without preserving it, before finally releasing it back to his family. He gave his body up on the conditional understanding that it would be used productively, not on the understanding that it would be left to rot without dignity. He may be dead, but he still deserved better, and so does his family.

The $2 million lawsuit clouds the issue though...it looks like someone is hoping for a big payday, and that's not right either.

reply
Katherine 2012/08/03 08:35:19

Fair

+3
I'm voting fair because that would be rejecting donating your body to science. The reason I'm objecting to someone's personal decision to donate their body in the interest of doing a good deed is for two reasons.

1) Because of the often gross malpractice in organ donation. Desperate hospitals convince nice but confused people into not getting life saving treatments, into donating organs. Doctors don't have a real sense of when a person is considered brain dead, sometimes doctors jump the gun and try to take organs when the person has a chance of coming back. Some of them sell these organs at high prices. that benefit hospitals, doctors.

2) We have a czar who believes in socialized medicine, confiscating private retirement savings, and presumed consent for organ donation. Organ harvesting. Presumed consent means rather than opting in, you have to opt out. You're automatically assumed to be an organ donor. This is already being practiced in many other countries in the world and some people think nothing of it. I, however, object. It's asking for it in the right hands; dangerous in the wrong hands. One of the three mentioned passed, one is being pushed through, the other will, I'm sure be pushed through when ObamaCare is in full effect.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislati...
http:/...

I'm voting fair because that would be rejecting donating your body to science. The reason I'm objecting to someone's personal decision to donate their body in the interest of doing a good deed is for two reasons.

1) Because of the often gross malpractice in organ donation. Desperate hospitals convince nice but confused people into not getting life saving treatments, into donating organs. Doctors don't have a real sense of when a person is considered brain dead, sometimes doctors jump the gun and try to take organs when the person has a chance of coming back. Some of them sell these organs at high prices. that benefit hospitals, doctors.

2) We have a czar who believes in socialized medicine, confiscating private retirement savings, and presumed consent for organ donation. Organ harvesting. Presumed consent means rather than opting in, you have to opt out. You're automatically assumed to be an organ donor. This is already being practiced in many other countries in the world and some people think nothing of it. I, however, object. It's asking for it in the right hands; dangerous in the wrong hands. One of the three mentioned passed, one is being pushed through, the other will, I'm sure be pushed through when ObamaCare is in full effect.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislati...
http://assembly.state.ny.us/l...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/r...
http://www.lifesitenews.com/n...
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/...

While this may barely have anything to do with the topic of this SH poll, and the man made a CHOICE of his free will in donating his body to science, I use the opportunities to voice my objection at a time when rampant abuse of a noble cause exists, especially when it's being aggressively foisted on the public. If you feel the urge to make an negative response to this answer, it wasn't intended for you. If I've annoyed anyone by being a bit off topic, please accept my apologies and thank you for reading.
(more)

reply
Michael S. to Katherine 2012/08/03 08:44:33

+2
Even though it was somewhat of a tangent, I can't object to anyone taking the opportunity to make note of this dangerous trend, sooo....+1

reply
Katherine to Michael S. 2012/08/03 08:52:34

+2
Thank you.

reply
Berrset1 2012/08/03 07:58:08

Fair

honestly if its harder work for the medics to dissect it than they shouldnt be forced to accept obese bodys.

reply
JimmyIIX 2012/08/03 07:57:35 (edited)
chris. to JimmyIIX 2012/08/03 12:12:44

SETTLE

reply
JimmyIIX to chris. 2012/08/03 13:23:53 (edited)
Oaces_b... to JimmyIIX 2012/08/03 17:34:20
JimmyIIX to Oaces_b... 2012/08/03 17:43:49