In the process of estate planning, clients will discuss thoughts of donating their body to science after death. There are basically two types of body donations, one which involves having your body used with anonymity in a classroom setting to teach medical students, with the other having your tissues sent out to various research groups.
The David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles is the closest medical school offering a whole body donation program. Information regarding this program can be accessed at http://www.donatedbodyprogram.ucla.edu. Basically, you fill out a form and have it notarized saying you want to donate your body to UCLA’s program. You are then given a donor card. When you die, your doctor or the nursing home or hospital should call the number on the card for your remains to be transferred to the program of your choice. Usually, any private memorial service is arranged and paid for by the family, although these programs normally do a yearly memorial service for all decedent’s donating their body during the previous calendar year at their facility. You can rescind your donation plan at any time. There is no cost associated with the donation.
Other programs are administered through UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco and UCOP Health Affairs. The Anatomical Materials Program Policy, Standards and Guidelines can be found at www.ucop.edu/ucophome/coordrev/policy/.
A website explaining the donation of tissues is MedCure.org. It covers all costs of donation and cremation, and it states it returns ashes in approximately three weeks. Among the ways it states your donation will help are discovering new drugs, speeding up patient recovery process, improving new surgical procedures, developing new and improved medical devices and identifying dangerous drug interactions.
MedCure.org works with organizations doing research on ALS, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart diseases, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Osteoporosis.
Careful research should be conducted before deciding on donating your body or tissues after death. The generosity of body donors adds immeasurably to our quality of life. Those who will their bodies to science are giving their mortal substance to contribute to the health and well being of future generations.
Ms. MacDonald’s practice is limited to Estate Planning, Trust Administration, Probate and Elder Law. Ms. MacDonald maintains her practice in the Santa Clarita Valley at 27013 Langside Avenue, Suite A in Santa Clarita, CA. She can be reached at 661-251-1300.