In a shocking turn of events, six families who had loved ones die in the Alabama state prison system have filed lawsuits against the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections and others. The families allege that their family members' bodies were returned to them missing internal organs after undergoing state-ordered autopsies.
One family recounted the distressing experience of discovering that their deceased relative's internal organs were missing when the body arrived at the funeral home. The family had not given permission for the organs to be retained or destroyed. Subsequently, the family retrieved a sealed red bag containing what they were told was their loved one's organs from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where the autopsy had been performed, and buried it along with the deceased.
During a court hearing in Montgomery, the families expressed their disbelief and outrage over the situation, with one family member describing it as something out of science fiction. The families are seeking answers about what happened to the missing organs and where they ended up.
The lawsuits also shed light on concerns raised by UAB medical students in 2018, who noticed a high number of specimens from deceased inmates during their training. This raised questions about whether families of incarcerated individuals had the same rights as other patients' families to request the return of organs with the body.
UAB clarified that they do not harvest organs from inmates for research purposes and stated that organs may be retained for additional testing if deemed necessary by a pathologist to determine the cause of death.
The University of Alabama System, which includes UAB, is a defendant in the lawsuits and plans to file a motion to dismiss. UAB has since ceased conducting autopsies for the state prison system, while the Alabama Department of Corrections has yet to respond to requests for comment on the matter.
