Recent Media Coverage Response
Dear Turtle Bay Exploration Park Visitor,
On Friday, February 15, 2008, ABC’s news program “20/20” aired a segment about the origins of human bodies used in museum exhibitions. The piece raised questions about the origins of the specimens used in some bodies-related exhibitions.
It was of the utmost importance for Turtle Bay to find an exhibition where all body specimens came from willing donors who consented their bodies to be part of an education presentation before their deaths. A community committee, comprised of medical professionals, educators and religious leaders, among others, was formed to advise Turtle Bay in their various areas of expertise. The group was committed to finding an exhibition that: 1) was respectful 2) could educate the general public about the complexity and beauty of the human body 3) used only bodies that had been donated before their deaths. This committee did extensive research into the various exhibitions available, and concluded that BODIES REVEALED, produced by Premier Exhibitions Inc., adhered to those standards.
Turtle Bay would like to take the opportunity presented by the media coverage to again discuss with the public the origins of the specimens used specifically in BODIES REVEALED. Premier Exhibitions has now, and always, assured Turtle Bay that all of the bodies and organ specimens on display in BODIES REVEALED were procured from individuals who willingly and knowingly chose to donate their bodies to science. Those individuals made their anatomical gifts to accredited medical universities in the People’s Republic of China, and all specimens were then received by the Nanjing Suyi Plastination Laboratories in Nanjing, China. Premier Exhibitions contracts with the laboratory to present the educational and inspiring BODIES REVEALED exhibition to audiences worldwide. These donors all signed consent forms, which are kept at the universities. Because of medical privacy laws, similar to our own HIPAA laws in the United States, these donor consent forms are not available for public viewing, but are kept private to maintain the donor’s promised anonymity.
Premier Exhibitions has never made secret that specimens used in their other exhibition, “Bodies … The Exhibition”, the subject of the 20/20 report, may be unclaimed or unidentified specimens. They assert that human specimens in medical schools in China, the United States and other countries throughout the world are largely made up of unclaimed or unidentified bodies. Premier believes that Asia possesses the largest and most highly competent group of dissectors in the world, who are highly skilled in preparing the bodies for educational and scientific purposes. Premier insists if the experts in the field of polymer preservation were based in the United States then all of the bodies would be American because, in the U.S. as in China, unclaimed or unidentified bodies are donated to medical schools or universities.
Ultimately, Premier Exhibitions has always maintained, and continues to affirm, that they have a strict ethical policy that guides their decisions, and they hold a deep respect for the handling, care and treatment of each specimen in their exhibitions. Additionally, they continually monitor their specimen review program, which includes examination of every single specimen by Premier’s medical experts to ensure the specimen died of natural causes before it is put into an exhibit. Dr. Roy Glover, Premier Exhibitions’ Chief Medical Director, oversees this process. Dr. Glover is a former Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He and his staff have never found evidence of gunshot wounds, trauma, torture or other bodily injury to any of the specimens received by Premier Exhibitions. Click here to view an affidavit provided by Premier Exhibitions from the Chinese organization that manages the donation of the bodies that also confirms Dr. Glover's findings.
If you have additional questions, please visit Premier Exhibition’s website for BODIES REVEALED.
As we near the May 24 opening of the BODIES REVEALED exhibition, we thank you for your continued support of Turtle Bay.
Sincerely,
Michael Warren
President and CEO
Turtle Bay Exploration Park
