The UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has apologized for 40 years' worth of clandestine, illegal mutilation of the corpses of British nuclear energy workers. When these workers died, pathologists and coroners colluded with the energy authority to remove their organs without the consent or knowledge of their families, in part to remove the possibility of a lawsuit for cancer caused by their work environment, but partly out of a seeming cavalier, better-safe-than-sorry approach that had them scooping out organs that had no diagnostic value. The corpses were then stuffed with random detritus from around the shop to disguise their mutilation; for example, broomsticks were used in place of bones removed from workers who'd died of leukemia.
"The part played by these public servants should be of particular concern to us all, because they listened to the representatives of the UK nuclear organizations rather than taking into account the concerns of the families and the interests of society as a whole, even to the extent of delaying post mortems and organizing second post mortems in order to take organs from our loved ones.
"The coroners and pathologists, in particular, should have been impartial but they not only let down these families, they sometimes deceived them."
Organs of nuclear workers secretly harvested for 40 years, report finds
Apology over organs taken from nuclear workers' bodies
(via /.)
(Image: Nuclear Power Plant Michigan City, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from paul_everett82's photostream)
