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'Bodies' needs okay of board, Crist says

The panel may meet next week to make a decision on the exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa.

By BILL DURYEA and SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published August 13, 2005

	Photo gallery

TAMPA - Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist made it clear on Friday that a controversial exhibition of human bodies needs the approval of the state's Anatomical Board if it wants to open.

"The Florida Anatomical Board is in place to ensure that the deceased are treated with the decency and respect they deserve," Crist said in a prepared statement. "I am sure the board will handle this matter appropriately."

"Bodies, the Exhibition," a collection of dramatically dissected and posed cadavers, is scheduled to open Aug. 20 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa.

But the Anatomical Board, which controls the transfer of cadavers into and out of the state for medical education or research, has said it wants written records from the show's promoters that the donors consented to the use of their bodies in the exhibit.

Premier Exhibitions has said the bodies, all of which come from China, were unclaimed and unidentified, so it would be impossible to satisfy that demand.

"We will never know who these people are," Arnie Geller, president and CEO of Premier Exhibitions, said at a news conference the day before Crist's ruling. On Thursday, Geller said he did not think the board had standing to prevent the on-time opening of the exhibition.

"This decision (by Crist) validates our belief that the Anatomical Board has jurisdiction in this matter," said Lynn J. Romrell, Ph.D., the board's executive director.

Romrell said he intends to convene a meeting of the full six-member panel next week "to review the matter and make a decision."

Whether the board will choose to block the show's opening is not clear.

Board member Stephen Sugrue said he doesn't know which way he is leaning regarding the exhibit. He wants to examine the documentation before he decides.

"We are here to protect the (method) of the procurement of bodies in this state and the use of that in the state for educational purposes," said Sugrue, a professor of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Florida's College of Medicine. "It gets complicated when it happened in a different country. We need to be assured that somehow it was procured properly."

Premier officials have said previously the bodies were obtained legally in China, where they underwent special processing at the Dalian Medical University.

"During the meeting I had yesterday with the representatives from MOSI and Premier Exhibitions, they provided some information about the planned exhibit," Romrell said. "The company has been asked to provide the documentation outlined in our previous correspondence."

Romrell was not available Friday to explain what information has yet to be provided.

Nearly two weeks ago, Romrell notified MOSI and Premier that the board required them to provide "documentation from the body donor/family authorizing use in the medical education or research."

Premier and MOSI have repeatedly highlighted the educational aspects of the exhibition, which Crist used to buttress his opinion Friday.

"While I would note that section 406.61 Florida Statutes does specifically refer to "medical education,' it does not limit that education to medical students," Crist wrote in a letter to Romrell. "Rather (the statutes) appear to deal more generally with medical and health-related purposes that require cadaveric material for study."

MOSI President Wit Ostrenko appeared to try to strike a balance between cooperation and resolve in a brief prepared statement.

"It is our intention to continue to have a constructive dialogue in an attempt to resolve our differences," Ostrenko said. "As planned, "Bodies, the Exhibition' will open on Aug. 20."

Premier Exhibitions was asked repeatedly for comment, but did not provide one Friday.

For now, the ball appears to be in the Anatomical Board's court. But a quick survey of the members did not indicate consensus on how they might vote next week.

Phillip R. Waggoner, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Miami School of Medicine, and Gerald R. Conover, a professor and chairman of the Anatomy Department at Nova Southeastern University, declined to comment.

Christopher P. Phelps, professor and chair of the Department of Anatomy at University of South Florida College of Medicine, and Andrew F. Payer, professor and academic administrator at the Florida State University College of Medicine, could not be reached.

Crist was asked Friday what happens if the board decides to block the opening and the museum and Premier disregard the decision.

"That's a decision to be made later," he said. "We should let the board meet and let them reach a conclusion."

[Last modified August 13, 2005, 01:45:18]