Tarrant County in Texas previously gave unclaimed bodies to a medical school without consent from families, but now they plan to cremate or bury these individuals after making efforts to contact relatives. This change follows an NBC News investigation that revealed the unethical handling of the remains by the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. The county has decided to take back the responsibility of contacting families and will incur an estimated cost of $675,000 annually. The new policy requires extensive efforts to notify relatives, including multiple attempts via various methods before bodies are considered unclaimed. Only then, after 11 days, can the county proceed with cremation or burial. Preference is given to cremation due to cost, but burial may be chosen based on the deceased’s preferences or family objections. The changes were influenced by bioethicist Eli Shupe, who advocated for ethical handling of unclaimed bodies. The NBC News investigation highlighted cases where families were unaware that their deceased relatives were provided to the Health Science Center without consent. The new policy aims to prevent such failures in the future, providing closure and respect for the deceased and their families.
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