Anatomists' uses of human skeletons: Ethical issues associated with the India bone trade and anonymized archival collections

Abstract

Concerns have recently been expressed about the continuing availability of human bones from India, obtained originally for educational purposes but lacking the requisite informed consent that would be expected today. More generally, a broader claim is being made, namely, that the practice of using any unconsented bones in educational settings is unethical and should cease. These calls, in turn, raise broader issues regarding the availability of anonymous archival collections in anatomy museums. Although this debate centers on undergraduate anatomy teaching, much anthropological research utilizes human remains of past populations for which there can have been no consent. A suggested alternative for undergraduate teaching is the use of 3D images of human bones, rather than the bones themselves. In addressing these issues, the background to the India bone trade is assessed, and the year 1985 is pinpointed as having significant ethical weight. The cultural and ethical interests inherent in studying archival anonymous skeletal material are weighed against indiscriminate reburial. Although any use of unconsented material represents ethical compromise, account should be taken of changing ethical expectations with time. It is concluded that: there is no justification for repatriation or disposal of all bones for which specific informed consent has not been obtained; continued use of anonymous archival human bones in a professional setting is acceptable, even in the absence of informed consent, with the proviso that there are no culturally relevant groups seeking repatriation; the continued existence of bones in long‐standing private collections cannot be justified since it amounts to long‐term storage with no identified goals; the notion that 3D images are an ethically superior alternative to actual human bones is unsustainable, since there is an intimate connection between the bones and the 3D images.

Macro and micro ethics in fetal and embryological collections: Exploring the paradigms of informed consent among Australian education‐focused stakeholders

“…This notion is akin to what has been proposed for skeletal collections. 46 It is likely that the participants perceived learning from these remains as good, as the majority of participants (88.9%) have experience with learning from human bodies themselves. This is corroborated by studies reporting a preference for learning from human bodies by both academic and students of anatomy.…”

American Association for Anatomy recommendations for the management of legacy anatomical collections

“…Many legacy anatomical collections include the remains of people who were part of marginalized populations, and their presence in these collections is viewed by some as continued exploitation (e.g., Stantis et al, 2023). In the United States, teaching collections in major medical schools were often built from a robust trade in human skeletons sourced from Southeast Asia (Jones, 2023). Other institutions acquired skeletal teaching collections from local poor communities by taking remains from common burial sites, pauper's graves, and potter's fields (de la Cova, 2019; Halperin, 2007) which were used as places of burial for unknown or unclaimed persons.…”

“…In some instances, where acquisition of tissues may be dubious, there remains the possibility of intentional concealment (Bagatur, 2022). An example of this is where illegal trade of human tissues may be the origin of the collection (Jones, 2023), or where the collection may have been generated using unethical (Hildebrandt, 2016) or 'dubious' ethical practices (Ortega, 2023). Additional challenges exist where cultural and linguistic barriers impede communication and understanding when information about collections is being shared.…”

“…In some instances, sets of bones can be 'inherited' or passed on between family members (Coman et al, 2019), and the provenance of such small collections can often remain unknown. While disposition of these tissues via indiscriminate burial may seem an attractive response to deal with an ethically problematic issue, this solution is not supported Jones, 2023;Jones et al, 2003). In such instances, it is more appropriate to transfer the collections to a teaching institution, to use as a teaching resource.…”

Corpse identification in mass disasters and other violence: the ethical challenges of a humanitarian approach

“…This introduces new questions about ethics [ 21 ], including whether presenting or widely sharing (may be different Country Authorities) images of remains also could represent an indignity situation in relation to how these images are managed [ 22 ]. Some have argued that showing the dead evokes empathy and mobilizes political will toward the dead and their families [ 23 ].…”