Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades.
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, th ...
, human tissue recovery firm that was shut down by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
br>Boss of notorious body snatching ring gets 54 years for harvesting March 19, 2008 after its president, Dr. Michael Mastromarino, and two other employees were convicted of illegally harvesting human bones, organs, tissue and other cadaver parts from individuals awaiting cremation, for forging numerous consent forms, and for selling the illegally obtained body parts to medical companies without consent of their families.
History
In late 2005, the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
investigated Michael Mastromarino and his company BTS for allegedly selling stolen human body parts. The probe was first reported by the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'' in October 2005, and led to a number of exhumations, including one of a Queens, New York, woman who had had many of her bones removed and replaced with PVC piping, which is a typical industry practice for cosmetic reconstruction of tissue donors. According to government witnesses, BTS sought business relationships with a number of
funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
Services
...
s in New York and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
solely to obtain access to recently deceased people, often paying the funeral homes $1,000 or more per corpse. In nearly every case, BTS employees obtained human
allograft
Allotransplant (''allo-'' meaning "other" in Greek) is the transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs to a recipient from a genetically non-identical donor of the same species. The transplant is called an allograft, allogeneic transplant, o ...
tissue, bones, ligaments and other cadaver material by forging family consent and other donor forms without actual authorized consent, and often against the written wishes of families. BTS employees engaged in highly irregular and unsafe practices, such as allowing cadavers to deteriorate before collecting tissue and parts, not testing donor material for diseases such as
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
, and even accepting cancerous and other diseased cadavers for harvesting and selling. Under federal regulatory guidelines for the proper care and management of donated human tissue, firms are required to "screen and test donors for relevant communicable disease agents and diseases and to ensure that HCT/Ps (Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-based Products) are processed in a way that prevents communicable disease contamination and cross-contamination."
To conceal their practices, BTS employees forged a variety of the necessary certificates and even, as in the case of an exhumed Queens woman, replaced bone with PVC piping to fool family members of the deceased. Of the numerous companies who purchased the illegally obtained body parts, or tissue, none had ever contacted the family member listed on the deceased consent forms to verify the consent, or even that the consenting person listed actually existed. The BTS scandal became international news after it was determined that the remains of the deceased broadcaster
Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.2008 episode of ''
Horizon
The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
'', "How Much Is Your Dead Body Worth?".
In February 2006, Michael Mastromarino, then a 42-year-old''
The Joplin Globe
''The Joplin Globe'' is a five-day daily newspaper published in Joplin, Missouri, United States, covering parts of 14 counties in southwestern Missouri. Ottaway Community Newspapers owned the ''Globe'' from 1975 to 2002. Since 2002, it has been ow ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
executive director
Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization.
The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
of operations of BTS, was convicted along with three employees of wrongdoing and sentenced to prison terms. Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta, one of the convicted employees, agreed to a deal that resulted in their imprisonment.
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, to between 18 and 54 years in
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
.
Director Toby Dye made the documentary ''Body Snatchers of New York'' about this case in 2010.
On September 4, 2008,
defense attorney
A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...
William J. Martini
William John Martini (born February 10, 1947 in Passaic, New Jersey) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, having been in active service from November 14, 2002, to February 10, ...
to dismiss hundreds of charges, asserting that the companies "never knew the body parts were illegally obtained, and they say there is no evidence the transplanted tissue made anyone ill."
According to the FDA, all tissue products collected and distributed by BTS were recalled and will be monitored for a complete accounting of all graft material.FDA New "FDA Orders Biomedical Tissue Services, Ltd., to Cease Manufacturing and to Retain Existing Inventories of Human Cells, Tissues and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products (HCT/Ps)" February 3, 2005 BTS sold its products to five companies; two of the companies were Life Cell Corporation, of New Jersey, and Regeneration Technologies, of Florida. Overall, about 10,000 patients in the United States and Canada received graft tissue from BTS.
BTS was not an accredited member, nor did the company ever apply to be a member, of the
American Association of Tissue Banks The American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB); a transplant trade organization that is dedicated to ensuring that human tissues intended for transplantation are safe and free of infectious disease, of uniform high quality, and available in quant ...
. Robert Rigney, who heads the association, said he doubts anyone who received tissue donations originating from the company is in any kind of health danger, because the processors the company dealt with would have subjected the tissues to their own screening processes.''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
Medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
* Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
Philadelphia Magazine
''Philadelphia'' (also called "''Philadelphia'' magazine" or referred to by the nickname "Phillymag", once called ''Greater Philadelphia'') is a regional monthly magazine published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Lipson family of Philadelphia ...
'' "Body Snatchers" March 25, 2008 Although a recent judicial ruling has increased the difficulty of patients in proving pain and suffering from receiving bad donor tissue in cases like these, Pfaff's lawsuit is still pending.
Other patients who received BTS-derived tissue and body parts include a Colorado woman who had to repeat her ACL replacement surgery after her first BTS tendon failed, an Ohio woman who developed
syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...
after receiving a bone from BTS, and an Ohio man who developed both
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
and
hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...
after receiving BTS bone implants in surgery.
On January 8, 2010, Michael Mastromarino's now ex-wife Barbra Mastromarino appeared on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
'' in a segment "Husbands' Secret Lives" and discussed the effect of the actions on her life and their sons' lives. After confronting his father about the reasons for his crimes while Dr. Mastromarino was incarcerated at
Rikers Island
Rikers Island is a island in the East River between Queens and the Bronx that contains New York City's main jail complex. Named after Abraham Rycken, who took possession of the island in 1664, the island was originally under in size, but has ...
, their older son subsequently refused to speak to his father. During the broadcast, Barbra Mastromarino also listened to and apologized to the daughter of a victim of her husband's crimes, while mentioning she had no knowledge of her husband's illegal acts. Barbra Mastromarino acknowledged ignoring warning signs about the character of her ex-husband early in their relationship.
On the morning of July 7, 2013, Michael Mastromarino died at St. Luke's Hospital after suffering from
bone cancer
A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...
. He was 49.
In popular culture
* Plot of''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'' (Season 17, Episode 11: "Remains of the Day") “Remains of the Day” (air date: January 5, 2007)
* Story is used in''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' (Season 7, Episode 14: "Meet Market") in February, 2007.
* Similar storyline in ''Bones'': "The Graft in the Girl" (Season 1, Episode 20), airing April 26, 2006.
* In documentary TV series ''
American Greed
''American Greed'' (also known as ''American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals'' and as ''American Greed: Scams, Schemes and Broken Dreams'') is an American documentary television series on CNBC. The series focuses on cases of Ponzi schemes, ...
'' "The Body Snatcher: Michael Mastromarino" (Season 3, Episode 18), aired 25 February 2009.
* The case was the subject of the documentary ''Bodysnatchers of New York'' (2010) by Toby Dye
* Featured in an episode of ''
Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?
''Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?'' is an American documentary television series on Investigation Discovery. The series debuted on August 25, 2010. The series tells the story of people - mostly women - who find out their spouse has committed a crime ...
Organ harvesting
Organ procurement (also called organ harvesting) is a surgical procedure that removes organs or tissues for reuse, typically for organ transplantation.
Procedures
If the organ donor is human, most countries require that the donor be legally de ...
*
Body snatching
Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from ...
*
Tri-State Crematory
The Tri-State Crematory scandal was a scandal at a crematorium in the Noble community in northwest Georgia that came to national attention in 2002. Nearly three hundred and fifty bodies that had been consigned to the crematory for proper dispos ...