Plastination - Ethical Concerns

Ethical Concerns

Concern over consent of bodies being used in the plastination process has arisen. Over 20 years ago, von Hagens set up a body donation program in Germany and has signed over 9,000 donors into the plastinate program: 531 have already died. The program has reported an average of one body a day being released to the plastination process. Ninety percent of the donors registered are German. Although von Hagens says he follows strict consent procedures for whole-body specimens, he maintains that "consent is not important for body parts." Von Hagens' body donations are now being managed by the Institute for Plastination (IfP) established in 1993.

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